A presence has grown on the University of Rhode Island campus; through word of mouth and social media alike, leading students to ask one question: Who is The Rhody Blunt?
The Blunt said it doesn’t matter.
“Ultimately, the secret identity thing doesn’t matter that much to me,” The Blunt said.
Popping out of the ether on Feb. 20, the satire magazine run through Instagram has racked up over 3,000 followers in the past two months.
“I would kind of joke about things that, you know, the school would do that maybe seem a little ridiculous, or that we wouldn’t be surprised they would do,” The Blunt said. “One day, I kind of realized a lot of these would fit into a satirical news article format.”
Faux stories like “Cockroaches finally removed from Mainfare Dining Hall kitchen by offering them jobs,” and “Artemis II crew woken up by URI construction noise,” have exaggerated the inherently humorous choices made by the administration, according to The Blunt.
While the posts have been for laughs, there’s an element of community awareness purposely baked into the content.
“As I’ve gone and gotten more of the following, I think I’ve also wanted to try and make it something that hopefully makes people more aware of issues on campus,” The Blunt said.
The headlines may be fake, but the account has had a real impact on campus, making Cigar headlines on April 23 after speaking out about URI accounts blocking accounts for making anti-AI comments. Since then, URI Dining Services has advertised a student graphic design role.
The Cigar published screenshots of direct messages to The Blunt’s personal account from dining, sparking discussion around how the Dining Services account spoke to students.
“It just grew so far beyond just the issue of using AI, and more so how this university interacts with students and how they treat their students,” The Blunt said. “If they’re acting this unprofessional about frankly, a silly little thing, what about much bigger problems?”
The Blunt has been a frequent topic of discussion on the anonymous student forum app YikYak, and chalk art was seen outside Swan Hall on Wednesday that read “#Stop AI Use! Rhody Blunt Mag.”
The Blunt has been operating without any university administration interference. Official accounts for the Harrington School of Communication and Media and the English department follow The Blunt, the latter even sending a direct message to express their support.
Part of that freedom relies on the account being unaffiliated with the school, though they operate without the fiscal support of being a senate-recognized organization.
“One of the great things about this is that right now I can say pretty much anything I want, which can go in so many different directions,” The Blunt said.
While most reception has been “overwhelmingly positive,” there have been some naysayers. Some have gone as far as sniffing out The Blunt’s identity, threatening to expose them in the comments.
“There have been people who are not happy with my content personally, who are trying to figure out who I am and are always annoying about it,” The Blunt said. “[They] think that they’re like me burning me really hard by being like, ‘Oh, I know who you are, and I’m going to put your name in the comments.’”
The Blunt is largely unbothered by the threats and remains anonymous to the student body.
Some pushback has come from those who disagree with the political stance of the magazine, according to The Blunt, who described it as left-leaning.
“Some people call me lib–rd and stuff, which is hilarious,” The Blunt said. “I have also found a surprising, small faction of people who are like die-hard Marc Parlange defenders, telling me I’ve lost my credibility for saying I don’t like him. And I think that’s hilarious because I’m not supposed to have credibility, these are jokes.”
For all The Blunt pokes fun and criticizes URI, they hold a love for the campus community.
“It’s a nice place to be, and I think that’s the hardest thing for me to convey to a lot of people is that I’m going to be making fun of this school a lot and I’ll say a bunch of stuff that makes it sound horrible,” The Blunt said. “And in a way, it is and so many things need to be fixed, but at the same time, I do love it here.”
While classes wind down, so does campus news. The Blunt will continue posting over the summer, but don’t expect the same frequency of posts.
As for the students, the answer to The Blunt’s identity seemingly won’t be revealed anytime soon.
