A Penn celebrity is about to emerge from the shadows of YouTube videos into the silver screens of millions of households across the country.
On the heels of the enormous success of the second year of likely letter videos, Dean of Admissions Eric Furda has been selected to participate in the 15th season of “Dancing with the Stars,” the producers of the show announced earlier this week.
Furda said he is “absolutely thrilled” to be starring on the show. He believes his breakthrough performance came in the opening scene of last year’s YouTube video for likely candidates, in which he emerges from a snowy blizzard into the warmth of College Hall, all smiles despite the dramatic temperature change on set.
Furda said he was originally waitlisted for the role, but members of the student-run Admissions Dean’s Advisory Board sent emails, letters, freshly baked cookies and even a life-sized cardboard cutout of the dean to the casting office.
“Seeing Dean Furda on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ was my dream all throughout my four years at Penn, and I’m so honored that I got to be a part of this, especially given the competitive acceptance rate for the role,” ADAB member and College senior Sarah McGinnis said.
While some dancing consultants view Furda as an underdog in the competition, Penn’s dean of admissions revealed in an interview that, when he attended the University as an undergraduate in the 1980s, he minored in interpretive dance to help with his agility for the sprint football team.
IvyPromises founder Bill Carrell predicted that this television stint may help boost yield rates for the Class of 2016.
“Whenever a member of the administration receives name recognition, students are more bound to follow this newfound fame,” he said.
Wharton junior Jeremy Carter said he is excited to see a Penn administrator dance hand-in-hand with a Hollywood celebrity.
“Maybe my relatives will stop sending me Penn State news articles if they see Dean Furda on ‘Dancing with the Stars,’” he said.
For more information, check out this related story.
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