Baltimore Sun

Towson University President Robert L. Caret was standing in the middle of a sunny atrium in the school’s virtual online campus, holding forth on student life, when he was attacked. An avatar – or online representation of a person – in a blue dress walked right into him.

“An avatar just attacked me, I think,” Caret said, laughing. “I’m hoping it was unintentional.”

Caret holds monthly “study breaks,” where he meets with students to answer questions and hear their concerns. Last week, for the first time, he met with students in the virtual world of Second Life – an online program populated by its own world of animated people and places. Towson University has built an “island” in Second Life, and that’s where Caret met with more than 30 students and faculty.

“I thought having one of the study breaks in Second Life, we’d probably get a different group of students,” he said. Caret also blogs and has a Facebook page and online podcast as a way of reaching out to students through new technology. He first tried Second Life last year and asked his tech staff to help him create an avatar to represent himself.