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OT - Changes at colleges, Stanford example...

E

Eurocat

Senior
May 29, 2001
17,843
587
113
I thought this article might interest some board readers. I am not connected enough with NU to know if this is happening in Evanston or not.

It's not football related, but kind of is. It is an argument to keep playing, keep fighting, because football and basketball may be one of the last quirky things around campus soon at many schools if this trend keeps developing. Again, I do not know if this is a NU issue today or not. Everything is up in the air now that our new President may not be serving after all. If not her than who, and why, and with what goals regarding campus atmosphere, which is so important in developing character?

I know this really is not the board for this, but where else to post it? I thought it was interesting.

palladiummag.com

Stanford’s War on Social Life

palladiummag.com palladiummag.com
 
G

GOUNUII

Junior
Jan 4, 2004
6,411
220
63
Eurocat said:
I thought this article might interest some board readers. I am not connected enough with NU to know if this is happening in Evanston or not.

It's not football related, but kind of is. It is an argument to keep playing, keep fighting, because football and basketball may be one of the last quirky things around campus soon at many schools if this trend keeps developing. Again, I do not know if this is a NU issue today or not. Everything is up in the air now that our new President may not be serving after all. If not her than who, and why, and with what goals regarding campus atmosphere, which is so important in developing character?

I know this really is not the board for this, but where else to post it? I thought it was interesting.

palladiummag.com

Stanford’s War on Social Life

palladiummag.com palladiummag.com
Click to expand...
Great article. Thanks for sharing.

GOUNUII
 
bringbacktherantboard

bringbacktherantboard

Junior
Aug 31, 2003
14,696
223
63
Stanford has always been a special case in how they do things and I'm not sure how much we can extrapolate to other schools. But it is a shame that they've purged some of their institutions (like the band) of their special sauce.
 
stpaulcat

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,958
677
113
Wow. Let's hope that never happens at NU. Although NU has been trying to get rid of fraternities since I was in school, and aren't they about to succeed? This is what happens when the control freaks take charge. If I had had to live in one of NU's freshman dorms for all four years, I never would have graduated.
 
K

Kiteboarder

Freshman
Mar 13, 2002
1,826
95
38
Eurocat, thank you for this enlightening article. Of all places, I would never have thought that Stanford University would be guilty of enforced "group-think".

These two quotes from the article are extremely telling, "The official explanation from Stanford for eliminating the house was that the Outdoor theme “fell short of diversity, equity and inclusion expectations.”, and "Next year, Outdoor House will be reinstated, but only because house members promised to refocus their theme on “racial and environmental justice in the outdoors.”

Perhaps I'm just too old and too much travelled to understand what a bunch or bunch of young people who are intrested in hiking and promoting the outdoors, has in common with promoting “racial and environmental justice in the outdoors.”

Good Lord, are we all to be over managed in the nanny state?

What a crock!
 
stpaulcat

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,958
677
113
WaveJumper said:
Eurocat, thank you for this enlightening article. Of all places, I would never have thought that Stanford University would be guilty of enforced "group-think".

These two quotes from the article are extremely telling, "The official explanation from Stanford for eliminating the house was that the Outdoor theme “fell short of diversity, equity and inclusion expectations.”, and "Next year, Outdoor House will be reinstated, but only because house members promised to refocus their theme on “racial and environmental justice in the outdoors.”

Perhaps I'm just too old and too much travelled to understand what a bunch or bunch of young people who are intrested in hiking and promoting the outdoors, has in common with promoting “racial and environmental justice in the outdoors.”

Good Lord, are we all to be over managed in the nanny state?

What a crock!
Click to expand...
“fell short of diversity, equity and inclusion expectations.” Certain of stanford's administrators need to experience exclusion, in order to understand inclusion.
 
stpaulcat

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,958
677
113
WaveJumper said:
Eurocat, thank you for this enlightening article. Of all places, I would never have thought that Stanford University would be guilty of enforced "group-think".

These two quotes from the article are extremely telling, "The official explanation from Stanford for eliminating the house was that the Outdoor theme “fell short of diversity, equity and inclusion expectations.”, and "Next year, Outdoor House will be reinstated, but only because house members promised to refocus their theme on “racial and environmental justice in the outdoors.”

Perhaps I'm just too old and too much travelled to understand what a bunch or bunch of young people who are intrested in hiking and promoting the outdoors, has in common with promoting “racial and environmental justice in the outdoors.”

Good Lord, are we all to be over managed in the nanny state?

What a crock!
Click to expand...
And you are a Marine.
 
stpaulcat

stpaulcat

Senior
May 29, 2001
34,958
677
113
I remember the geology field trip my Geology class at NU took to the Wisconsin Dells. Before getting off the bus, the Professor warned us, "Drinking is not permitted on this field trip," shortly after, we all went in search of the nearest bar. In Wisconsin then one could purchase beer at 18 (which actually meant 16). The geology hike the next day was our reward.
 
F

Fanaticat98

Junior
May 29, 2001
8,621
265
83
It was an interesting read, somewhat. The student author’s perspective is inherently limited. I don’t doubt for a minute that even if you made every high school senior read that article, Stanford would still receive 20 applications for every spot in the freshman class. The caché of Stanford/Harvard/Yale is only getting more and more exclusive/elite.
 
N

NUCat320

Senior
Dec 4, 2005
19,469
495
0
A few thoughts I had:
- On just about every metric of ‘adultness’, the current generation of teenagers is the least adult. (They get their driver’s license less frequently or later, they have less sex, they’re less likely to have a job. Driving, banging, working are probably the most adult things you can do.)
- Generalizing, but every GenZ kid has been socialized, at least in part, online. This depressing “it would take four days to discover my dead body” thing is related in part to that experience; kids don’t interact in person nearly as much.
- iPhones and always-onlineness and streaming tv have changed everything. 20 years ago (actually, now 25!), we had no choice but to meet each other. Hardly anyone had a tv, streaming video didn’t exist, a few weird kids had phones to call home (I wrote $.72 checks to AT&T); your social life was literally what you made it.
- It’s pretty tough to defend Greek life. As an entity, Greek life has always been about who your parents are, how much $ you have, where you grew up, your prep school. Even excluding binge drinking and hazing deaths, the exclusionary nature has left minorities and less wealthy students on the outside. Greek life is a relic, and the people who lament its loss here are white men who benefited from it.
- These social barriers have impact well beyond a college life, as a Sig Ep works for a Sig Ep and hires a Sig Ep as their department’s intern.
- All that said, social justice or diversity requirements for activity-oriented clubs are dumb as hell. It should be okay just to have fun, too.
- This article is written by a current student, or maybe a recent grad. It’s a complaint, with no action. Do something.
- Kids aren’t as good at messing around as they used to be.
- I bet there are still terrible a capella groups on campus everywhere. But if this helps kill college a capella, we’re probably a little better off.


I am rapidly becoming an old white man. I spent two years on campus, two years off. My best friendships from NU are those with whom I shared a hallway as a freshman, and those who shared common interests through activities. I stayed away from the Greek life, and north campus in general. Not intentionally, it just happened that way. My kids refer to my senior year roommates’ kids as their cousins. We’re working on our next reunion.




*my family moved last summer. Over a long weekend , my 13-year-old son recently flew to see and stay with his old friends. While COVID had affected his final year of school before moving, it didn’t impact his social life at all. (He could hang out with anyone he wanted.) When he returned, he agreed that he had seen one of his best friends - who had slept over two nights at another friend’s - more in person over the previous weekend than he had outside of school in his entire final year of school. After a year of actual, same zip code friendship as a middle schooler, he only learned after moving that his middle school friend picked off his pepperoni. “Best friends” can be an entirely online social experience.
- my son also asked if he could get a job, which is badass
 
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M

Medill '03

Sophomore
Nov 22, 2001
4,106
130
62
NUCat320 said:
A few thoughts I had:
- On just about every metric of ‘adultness’, the current generation of teenagers is the least adult. (They get their driver’s license less frequently or later, they have less sex, they’re less likely to have a job. Driving, banging, working are probably the most adult things you can do.)
- Generalizing, but every GenZ kid has been socialized, at least in part, online. This depressing “it would take four days to discover my dead body” thing is related in part to that experience; kids don’t interact in person nearly as much.
- iPhones and always-onlineness and streaming tv have changed everything. 20 years ago (actually, now 25!), we had no choice but to meet each other. Hardly anyone had a tv, streaming video didn’t exist, a few weird kids had phones to call home (I wrote $.72 checks to AT&T); your social life was literally what you made it.
- It’s pretty tough to defend Greek life. As an entity, Greek life has always been about who your parents are, how much $ you have, where you grew up, your prep school. Even excluding binge drinking and hazing deaths, the exclusionary nature has left minorities and less wealthy students on the outside. Greek life is a relic, and the people who lament its loss here are white men who benefited from it.
- These social barriers have impact well beyond a college life, as a Sig Ep works for a Sig Ep and hires a Sig Ep as their department’s intern.
- All that said, social justice or diversity requirements for activity-oriented clubs are dumb as hell. It should be okay just to have fun, too.
- This article is written by a current student, or maybe a recent grad. It’s a complaint, with no action. Do something.
- Kids aren’t as good at messing around as they used to be.
- I bet there are still terrible a capella groups on campus everywhere. But if this helps kill college a capella, we’re probably a little better off.


I am rapidly becoming an old white man. I spent two years on campus, two years off. My best friendships from NU are those with whom I shared a hallway as a freshman, and those who shared common interests through activities. I stayed away from the Greek life, and north campus in general. My kids refer to my senior year roommates’ kids as their cousins. We’re working on our next reunion.




*my family moved last summer. Over a long weekend , my 13-year-old son recently flew to see and stay with his old friends. While COVID had affected his final year of school before moving, it didn’t impact his social life at all. (He could hang out with anyone he wanted.) When he returned, he agreed that he had seen one of his best friends - who had slept over two nights at another friend’s - more in person over the previous weekend than he had outside of school in his entire final year of school. After a year of actual, same zip code friendship as a middle schooler, he only learned after moving that his middle school friend picked off his pepperoni. “Best friends” can be an entirely online social experience.
- my son also asked if he could get a job, which is badass
Click to expand...
The one who says Greek life is a relic for white men must be a white man who’s never met someone from an HCBU.
 
N

NUCat320

Senior
Dec 4, 2005
19,469
495
0
Medill '03 said:
The one who says Greek life is a relic for white men must be a white man who’s never met someone from an HCBU.
Click to expand...
Touché.

It should be said, whereas traditional fraternities and sororities were founded as exclusionary institutions, the Divine Nine, and HBCU’s in general, were founded to counter that exclusion.

Equating Sig Ep and Alpha Phi Alpha is a bit like Betsy DeVos pointing towards Howard and Spelman as a sign of educational equality. (Actually, turns out it was “school choice.” Yeesh.)

Alpha step, Omega step
 
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C

Catslash

Redshirt
Aug 28, 2001
1,055
24
38
"The truth is everybody is going to hurt you , you have to find the ones that are worth suffering for."
Bob Marley
 
H

Hungry Jack

All-Conference
Nov 17, 2008
36,328
1,885
67
"in 2015, the administration put the notoriously anti-establishment Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band on “super-probation."

Unfortunately, Blutarski's "When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor" speech could not be used on Stanford's well-educated marching band. The rally fizzled.

Trigger warnings. Safe spaces. Speaker Cancellation. Deans for Belonging. Emotional Reasoning (if I feel it, it must be real!). Microaggressions. Magnification.

It just gets worse and worse.

We have raised one generation that is highly risk-averse and plagued with constant anxiety. Another is on its way.

These kids will be societal leaders someday. How will they deal with tyrants like Putin, liars like Raisi, and terrorists like the Taliban? How will they face problems like climate change, violent crime, and economic stagnation?
 
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