An Instagram account run by Seton Hall students recently hit over 1,000 followers this month. The account, @setonhallmemes, posts memes that address issues and student life at Seton Hall.
Launched in November, the account is maintained by several freshmen.
One of its administrators, a freshman finance major who asked to remain anonymous, said in a message that they were inspired to launch the account after making jokes with their friend about the Health Services building being off campus, when it “should be easily accessible.”
“We find random stuff that we could make fun of and think of how it can be made into a meme,” the student said. “For example, the Neumann [residence hall] freshmen meme—those people are really rare, so they don’t exist because they are far away.”
The user added that some of the memes reflect issues that are faced on campus and reflect on the struggle of a college student in general. Another anonymous user, a freshman political science major, said some of the memes are a way of “touching on serious topics I notice around campus.”
“I like to make jokes about things that everyone knows about, yet choose to stay silent on,” they said. “It’s a chance to call people out, but in a non-aggressive and humorous way."
“Some weeks, it’s just basic student memes, but Christmastime and weeks with more Seton Hall specific,” they continued. “More than that, we’re not afraid to talk about sexual assault or mental illness on campus.”
One of these memes include a post from Jan. 19 that shows two side-by-side images of Google searches, one that says “What are the rules in beer pong” and the other, “how to avoid getting roofied.” The caption reads “guys vs girls when going to local parties.” A phone number that helps victims report sexual assault is listed at the bottom of the caption.
“We’re not afraid to talk about sexual assault or mental illness on campus,” the political science major said. “Any memes we post related to either of those have advice and call numbers in the caption for anyone who unfortunately can relate.”
Luke Tyler, a freshman business accounting and finance major, said students tend to follow meme accounts when they relate to the content posted.
“The memes page on Instagram offers a lot of comical relief of us students and a more satirical view of the school,” Tyler said. “Most students follow the page because we all in some way can relate to the memes that represent our everyday lives on campus.”
The users said they also take suggestions from other students on campus.
However, they said, some students have sent the account inappropriate content. “Compared to the number of suggestions we receive, I don’t take many,” the freshman political science major said. “Lots of you send in videos of students or potentially offensive jokes. We do not post either of those on this page.
“We want everyone to know that this page is representative of our community, not just the few students who run it,” they said.
Liam Oakes can be reached at liam.oakes@student.shu.edu.
