#21 Texas A&M, USA - Where You Belong (2022)

At last week's Future Index Summit, leaders from nearly 20 UK universities chose some of their favourite #highereducation work of the last 12 months, and the Where You Belong award-winning campaign from 美国德克萨斯A&M大学 made it into the top 5. Strictly speaking, the campaign went live a little earlier in 2021, but it was last year's epic film that really grabbed our attention.

The film defies the crazy generational labelling noise out there, instead becoming a celebration of difference - of inspiring diversity; of interests, quirks and oddities. Usually, university promotion films struggle to engage us for 60 seconds but this one takes over 2 minutes in its stride, leaving us wanting even more.

And more is what we get! There are a staggering 38 films now in the accompanying playlist. Most are stories of students doing what they love most, including the University's Cosplay Club:

And the story of someone who really adores bugs:

But some stories are from alumni, showcasing achievements regardless of their background. Such as the inspiring story of The Judge. 'If Raquel "Rocky" Jones can do it, so can I!'

And supporting all of this is the Howdy Film and a reinforcing championing of individuality and diversity - making students feel more than welcome.

We all know that #universities need to do more to celebrate difference and here's a benchmark for you all to work with. Where You Belong is a definite stand-out from last year and now a deserved member of our #RetroIndex hall of fame. Congratulations y'all!

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