Glenbard East grad star of Roosevelt University ad campaign

Roosevelt University has launched a new ad campaign encouraging prospective students to follow their dreams, and Glendale Heights finance major Victoria Pena is one of its stars.

Pena's ad in the “This Way Up” campaign portrays her in cap and gown at a graduation ceremony, under the tag line “Give the Status Quo a Status Update.”

Pena, who graduated from Glenbard East High School in 2011, said she hopes the image of a Hispanic woman pursuing her dreams will encourage the idea that higher education and strong career goals are for people of all ethnicities.

She said she was asked by the university to take part in the campaign after sharing her concerns about the interest rates on student loans with a congressman.

Though she hasn't yet seen her ad out in public, many friends have called her to report seeing her photo on train platforms and on the sides of buses. Her ad will begin showing up on digital boards and movie theaters near Woodfield Mall and Roosevelt's Schaumburg campus this weekend.

Pena said she was attracted to Roosevelt early on in her college search and it has fulfilled everything she hoped for.

“I fell in love with the social justice aspect and the more adult atmosphere on campus,” Pena said.

She's majoring in finance because of the variety of applications it can have after graduation.

The new ad campaign is scheduled to run in cycles through mid-March. Other themes of the ads will include “Tenacity Loves Company,” “Will, Meet Way,” “For Those Whose Plans Come In XL” and “Be Humble In All Things But Ambition.”