<p>College Criticized for Recruiting Postcard </p>
<p>2 hours, 4 minutes ago </p>
<p>CRETE, Neb. - A private college is raising eyebrows with a recruiting postcard that shows a man surrounded by women and says students have the opportunity to “play the field.” </p>
<p>Doane College sent the cartoon postcard last week to about 13,500 prospective students in California. </p>
<p>One frame shows student playing football for the Doane Tigers, with a caption that reads: “Finally, a place where he could work toward the career of his choice. And also play the field.” </p>
<p>The next frame shows him talking to a group of attractive women and is captioned: “And play the field some more.” </p>
<p>Some faculty members say the postcards objectify women and could lead prospective students to get the wrong idea about the four-year, liberal arts college affiliated with the United Church of Christ. </p>
<p>The timing for the postcard also is troubling to some. Doane football player Alan Branting, 19, has been suspended and is awaiting trial on a charge of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in May. </p>
<p>Administrators say the innuendo is harmless. The phrase “play the field” means to explore a variety of options, in relationships and other aspects of life, said J.S. Engebretson, the college’s executive director of communications and marketing. </p>
<p>However, Christy Hargesheimer, an assistant professor of Spanish, said some of her students associated the phrase with sexual promiscuity. </p>
<p>“My concern is that it might attract the wrong sort of student,” she said. “And it would also repel the students that we might be interested in.” </p>
<p>Doane needed an edgy campaign to reach its target audience, said Dan Kunzman, the vice president of admissions. </p>
<p>“We had to get a little out of the box to catch their attention, to maybe get them to realize that the state of Nebraska isn’t a 300-mile cornfield,” Kunzman said. </p>
<p>Doane’s campus in Crete, about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln, has about 1,010 students, plus 1,000 graduate students there and at other locations.</p>