Every college campus in America has its own unique culture. Between sports teams, special traditions, and inside jokes amongst students, college campuses are a microcosm of the world around us. Social media has exacerbated this factor, with location tags allowing students to see content made by and for their peers. As a result, college campuses develop their own version of “celebrities.” But what does it take to be a “campus celebrity?” And what is it really like to be one?
There are two main categories of campus celebrities. The first is someone who may be known amongst a specific friend group, despite not being directly connected to that group. Maybe they’re a friend-of-a-friend with whom they had a funny interaction, or a favorite employee at the campus Starbucks.
The other category is a person who is known by all or most of the students, usually for having a social media presence or doing something noteworthy. These may be more expected, like the star player on your school’s football team, or obscure, like the student who had one video go viral on TikTok.
At the University of Missouri, we have our fair share of campus celebrities. Not all of them are students, for example Speakers Circle’s “Hacky Sack Guy,” aka 55-year-old Derrick Fogle. Fogle is a Guinness World Record holding footbagger who frequently practices in MU’s Speakers Circle. Despite the uniqueness of his performance, his presence has become part of the cultural fabric of the school.
Another name that is familiar on the University of Missouri campus is Riley Snider, better known as “Dr. Pepper Princess.” Riley is a Senior at Mizzou and a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority who has gained a significant TikTok following, specifically for her sorority rush content. Riley’s been posting videos for several years, but it wasn’t until recently that her page began to “take off.”
One of Riley’s goals for her content was to help Potential New Members feel less nervous during the rush process; “When I was going through recruitment, I was so scared to talk to the members and I thought that they were robots. I just wanted to show that we’re people too, and everytime a round would start, we were just as nervous as the new members were.”
Riley believes this comforting and relatable element of her content is part of the reason it became so popular. Sorority rush can be a very intimidating setting, and Riley’s content helped to show “the fun side of recruitment.”
Riley’s experience being known as a campus celebrity can be described as bizarre. Despite being a student just like everyone else, Riley receives lingering stares and requests for selfies on the daily.
“On Start Day, I took 15 photos with people. I was standing outside where I live on East Campus, and people were coming up to my front door, or yelling at me from down below. I’d say everytime I go out it’s like four or five people that say something to me.”
When asked her feelings on her newfound “fame,” Riley said, “It is still kind of crazy to me, I thought it would die down after recruitment, but I think all of Mizzou knows who I am now.”
The experience of being a “celebrity” who is mainly known only in the few mile radius of a college campus is unique, and feels almost like a big inside joke amongst the student body. The phenomena of campus celebrities can transform ordinary people like Riley into small-scale stars and familiar faces for students. Ultimately, as long as no harm is being done to the individual, having these campus celebrities can help create a sense of student unity and make big institutions like Mizzou feel a little bit smaller.