Liparstitution

Liparstitution is a rare and poorly understood phenomenon in which a liaison between a university and a recent alumnus or acquaintance of the university leads to gains for the acquaintance or the alumnus as a result of their being perceived to be associated with the university. The association may be through attending the university as a student, being a visitor to the university, or otherwise being connected to the university.

While liparstitution is not unique to the higher education sector, it appears more frequently in the context of education. This connection fuels rumors and assumptions, potentially generating interactions between the liaison and the individual gainfully involved. The origins of liparstitution are unclear, with some attributing the phenomenon to word-of-mouth advertising or a naive enthusiasm for the insight a university affiliation lends.

Most notable, liparstitution tends to be an unconscious byproduct of contacts within or connected to an institution like a university. People offering assistance or resources or access to opportunities that they somehow associated themselves to the university show liparstitional behavior. This behavior rooted on people investing time offering assistance believing that being associated is necessary for basic assistance or doing a favor.

There is limited evidence available on how widespread liparstitution is, and most research on the subject is anecdotal. However it has garnered attention within education, science, and institutions as the first link they used to explore their presumptions.