When she was in high school, Ali Baron fell in love with the reality show “The Girls Next Door,” which followed the extravagant lives of Hugh Hefner’s three girlfriends.

“I used to watch it all the time and I had the posters and the DVDs and I had the necklaces,” said Baron, a senior sociology major and Syracuse native. “I kind of grew out of that phase a little bit, but it was something that I was always really interested in and I always followed it.”

Baron, who is currently taking the semester off, was chosen to represent Syracuse University in the October 2014 edition of Playboy Magazine. Now she’s been invited to the Playboy Mansion Halloween Party and has the opportunity to follow in the Bunnies’ footsteps.

Last semester, Baron’s friend told her that Playboy was looking for students interested in modeling. A couple months later, when Baron walked into Faegan’s Café and Pub, two Playboy recruiters pulled her aside within minutes of arriving at the restaurant.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on, and it happened really quickly. They were just like, ‘Would you be interested in being in Playboy?’ and I was like, ‘Yeah,’” said Baron.

That night Baron said she immediately called her friends first. Brittany Bunde started crying and screaming out of happiness after getting the call about Baron’s news.

“She said I was one of the first people she called because I would actually be happy for her,” Bunde said. “This is something she’s been wanting to do. It makes her happy, so why not do it?”

Baron also called her friend Danielle Caloia, who said she was surprised when Baron told her about the Playboy opportunity.

“When she called me I thought it was going to be bad,” Caloia said. “But then she ended up telling me, and I was absolutely ecstatic for her, but my initial response was making sure it was all legitimate.”

The morning after hearing the news Caloia researched the contact information of the recruiters Baron had met and validated that they were from Playboy, she said. Baron set up her photo shoot that morning.

Baron said that the reaction from her friends was all positive and supportive. Her parents, who she called last, were not as excited, but still supported her anyway.

Once the shoot was set up, Baron didn’t really know what to expect. With no prior modeling experience, she made sure she brought a friend to the shoot so she wouldn’t be caught off guard.

But when she got to the shoot, Baron soon noticed how professional the experience was and how friendly the staff members were.

“There is a lot of work behind the whole thing, with the lights and cameras and wardrobe, the hair and the makeup,” Baron said. “I had never modeled before so it was super cool, but they put a lot of work in to get those shots.”

During the shoot Baron took both nude and non-nude photos, both of which have been published both online and in Playboy Magazine.

“I hope that I represented the school well, and I hope more people like it than didn’t,” Baron said.

As for Baron, she has said that since the magazine’s publication she has received a lot of attention, mainly online in the form of tweets or comments on articles written about her.

Not all of the attention has been positive, but despite some of the negative judgments and harsh words, her friends say that Baron is taking the new attention in stride.

And Baron’s days working with Playboy may not be over. She was recently invited to the Playboy Mansion for the organization’s annual Halloween party on October 25.

Baron said that attending the event would be an incredible opportunity, and to do so she set up a campaign on GoFundMe, called “Ali B goes to L.A.,” which as of Monday night, raised $340 toward a goal of $1,200.

“I was really interested in going out there. I’ve never been to Los Angeles and I thought if I could get out there just to meet people and network that would be awesome and it would just be a great experience overall,” Baron said.

Baron said that if everything goes well in Los Angeles, she still does not know whether she will return to SU. But she does plan to get her degree eventually.

Although she is unsure about her future at SU, Baron said she knows one thing is for certain — if she gets more opportunities at Playboy, she will take them.

“I’m kind of a person that just takes opportunities as they come and just try to stay positive,” Baron said. “I try to have a plan A, plan B and plan C. So I feel like I’m covering all my bases, but if I get the opportunity to continue working for Playboy that’s definitely what I’m going to do.”

Published on October 7, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Brendan: bskrisel@syr.edu