A story highlighting Union’s inclusion in the new edition of the college guide, “The Hidden Ivies,” was the most viewed article of the year on the College’s news site.
The guide focuses on 63 exceptional schools that offer a broad liberal arts education that the authors believe rival the Ivy League.
The Aug. 22 story generated nearly 10,000 unique page views, easily outdistancing the second most popular article, a January piece about record number of applications from students seeking to join the Union community.
A July obituary for April Selley, a devoted teacher and writer at the College, was the third most clicked-on article, followed by a piece welcoming the Class of 2020. A story introducing the latest Minerva Fellows, a group of seniors selected to travel the globe to work in developing countries with a social entrepreneurial organization, rounded out the top five from among hundreds of stories posted in 2016.
On social media, the most popular Facebook post of the year was a February item about the Princeton Review naming Union one of the top colleges in America with an alumni base to help students jumpstart their careers.
On Twitter, the most popular tweet featured actor and director James Franco posing with students as he filmed scenes on campus for an upcoming movie.
Union’s award-winning news site garnered nearly 203,000 unique views during the year, making it one of the College’s most popular websites.
Stories that originated on the site are frequently featured in national, international and local media outlets. Among the prominent outlets that have highlighted the College in recent years are The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, University Business, New York Times, Washington Post, New Yorker, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, National Public Radio, Sports illustrated, U.S. News and World Report College Guide, U.S. News and World Report, and the Associated Press.
Content on the site is consistently honored by the Council for the Advancement of Secondary Education (CASE).
The 10 most-viewed stories of 2016:
1. Union included as one of the “Hidden Ivies”
2. Record numbers of students seek to join Union
3. College mourns the passing of April Selley
4. College set to welcome Class of 2020
5. Meet the 2016 Minerva Fellows
6. Mass. Gov. Charlie Baker to deliver 2016 Commencement address
7. Mass. Gov. gives graduates a lesson in history
8. Civil rights activist Cornel West to speak at Union
9. I want her to want me: Where men, sex and personality meet
10. Prize Day winners 2016