Hey dudes. I did not want to be the one to post this because I’m the one being interviewed in it, but we got a nod in today’s Hartford Courant.
The article’s about something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time–the decline of the unique Wesleyan personality at the expense of…well, at the expense of a lot of things. There is no singular reason why Wesleyan is losing its “weirdness.” It’s been the death of a thousand tiny cuts. The unhippiezation, if you will, that trustees and marketing and financial experts thought would bring bigger alumni donations and grants. It’s tiny institutional changes that have sacrificed our tiny little freedoms for the sake of public safety and security. It’s the copy and pasting of other institutions’ policies into ours. It’s the hiring of professional staff members who seem not to care about the culture that past generations have been cultivating here for the sake of homogeneity with other schools.
And I could get into a lot of different concerns I have about the current college climate here and across the nation, but to bring it back home, the biggest concern I have is the sterilization of Wesleyan in the here and now. It’s not about who is to blame or what is to blame, it’s more about deciding for ourselves who we as an collective student body want to be recognized for. Part of the trouble with that is we need to be a collective student body first. That’s one of the biggest reasons Xue and I started Wesleying. We wanted make the campus smaller for everyone in one of the only spaces not governed at all by the administration but where most students spend a considerable amount of their time. To put it this way isn’t nearly as eloquent or earthshattering as one might hope, but this is our effort, what’s yours?
“this school fears liability like the plague” – welcome to the real world. I can only imagine how many law suits Wes would face (especially with our parent base) if some moron burnt down their dorm because they forgot about the lit candle in their room before they went to a party elsewhere. College’s are businesses – nonprofit businesses, but businesses nonetheless. And do a quick google and see how many colleges have had dorm fires in the last 5 years (and how many students have died from them). Virtually every one started by an “unattended lit candle.” Sorry, I like Wes weird, and I don’t like Nazi room inspections, but I can’t fault this place for wanting to keep people safe.
“this school fears liability like the plague” – welcome to the real world. I can only imagine how many law suits Wes would face (especially with our parent base) if some moron burnt down their dorm because they forgot about the lit candle in their room before they went to a party elsewhere. College’s are businesses – nonprofit businesses, but businesses nonetheless. And do a quick google and see how many colleges have had dorm fires in the last 5 years (and how many students have died from them). Virtually every one started by an “unattended lit candle.” Sorry, I like Wes weird, and I don’t like Nazi room inspections, but I can’t fault this place for wanting to keep people safe.
um…the “better” dorms suck. Says me from Fauver.furthermore, above poster, you seem to assume that money and weird are diametrically opposed. I think that this couldn’t be further from the truth, de-weird-ification is simply the easy way out.But more importantly, dont mistake money for a quality education. And dont assume that the money is going towards professorships and the like. And don’t mistake all of this for money, either. this school fears liability like the plague.-esb
um…
the “better” dorms suck. Says me from Fauver.
furthermore, above poster, you seem to assume that money and weird are diametrically opposed. I think that this couldn’t be further from the truth, de-weird-ification is simply the easy way out.
But more importantly, dont mistake money for a quality education. And dont assume that the money is going towards professorships and the like. And don’t mistake all of this for money, either. this school fears liability like the plague.
-esb
Quit whining about the hippie good ol’ days…they weren’t that good.I agree with the poster that stated “Meanwhile they show students thinking Wes culture is on the decline because the administration decided to enforce fire codes and stop people from keeping animals in their rooms that may or may not be a health hazard.”AND, as much as I’m sure all the stereotypical Wes students in the room hate to hear it, money is what makes the world go ’round. Money is what allows you to have better dorms, a new campus center, all the resources you require, so on and so forth. People complain about the financial aid all the time, but then they also complain when the school changes the “weirdness” in order to attract more money. The truth is this is a weird school, don’t make it look like a stupid one too.
Quit whining about the hippie good ol’ days…they weren’t that good.
I agree with the poster that stated “Meanwhile they show students thinking Wes culture is on the decline because the administration decided to enforce fire codes and stop people from keeping animals in their rooms that may or may not be a health hazard.”
AND, as much as I’m sure all the stereotypical Wes students in the room hate to hear it, money is what makes the world go ’round. Money is what allows you to have better dorms, a new campus center, all the resources you require, so on and so forth. People complain about the financial aid all the time, but then they also complain when the school changes the “weirdness” in order to attract more money. The truth is this is a weird school, don’t make it look like a stupid one too.
I agree with the post above. UChi is weird. I heard they actually had a party there once.
I agree with the post above. UChi is weird. I heard they actually had a party there once.
I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but UChicago is very weird.
I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but UChicago is very weird.
Anyone who thinks Wes isn’t weird either has too much time on their hands or is getting access to waaaaaaaaay better drugs than me. I mean have you been on any other college campuses (campi) lately? Our so-called peers (Wms, Amherst, Midlbry, etc)? Columbia? Brown? Berkeley? We make ALL those places look like U-Chicago. Enjoy the break. Peace.
Anyone who thinks Wes isn’t weird either has too much time on their hands or is getting access to waaaaaaaaay better drugs than me. I mean have you been on any other college campuses (campi) lately? Our so-called peers (Wms, Amherst, Midlbry, etc)? Columbia? Brown? Berkeley? We make ALL those places look like U-Chicago. Enjoy the break. Peace.
You kinda of suck, above poster. I think that that message definitely came through with what Holly was saying:She also liked the fact that Wesleyan was one of the few colleges that permitted pets in the dorms, which meant she could keep her hedgehog in her room.But once Wood arrived, she said she found the student body fragmented and the sense of community fragile. The lack of engagement isn’t unique to Wesleyan, acknowledged Wood, who is double-majoring in government and sociology. “You don’t see many protests going on at Berkeley either,” she said. Nor, she added, is it solely the administration’s fault.To foster a bond among Wesleyan’s disparate cliques, Wood and another student, Xue Sun, launched a blog, http://www.wesleying.net, and organized a game, zombies vs. humans, that involved hundreds of students pelting one another with Nerf balls and marshmallows.
You kinda of suck, above poster. I think that that message definitely came through with what Holly was saying:
She also liked the fact that Wesleyan was one of the few colleges that permitted pets in the dorms, which meant she could keep her hedgehog in her room.
But once Wood arrived, she said she found the student body fragmented and the sense of community fragile. The lack of engagement isn’t unique to Wesleyan, acknowledged Wood, who is double-majoring in government and sociology. “You don’t see many protests going on at Berkeley either,” she said. Nor, she added, is it solely the administration’s fault.
To foster a bond among Wesleyan’s disparate cliques, Wood and another student, Xue Sun, launched a blog, http://www.wesleying.net, and organized a game, zombies vs. humans, that involved hundreds of students pelting one another with Nerf balls and marshmallows.
Am I the only one who thinks this article made us look like a bunch of elitist, whining morons? I mean basically we come off like a place that IS weird. Meanwhile they show students thinking Wes culture is on the decline because the administration decided to enforce fire codes and stop people from keeping animals in their rooms that may or may not be a health hazard. Part of being a generation of Wes students is building our own culture, not using what was cool 10 or 30 years ago as a crutch. I was kind of embarassed by the whole piece
Am I the only one who thinks this article made us look like a bunch of elitist, whining morons? I mean basically we come off like a place that IS weird. Meanwhile they show students thinking Wes culture is on the decline because the administration decided to enforce fire codes and stop people from keeping animals in their rooms that may or may not be a health hazard. Part of being a generation of Wes students is building our own culture, not using what was cool 10 or 30 years ago as a crutch. I was kind of embarassed by the whole piece
Looks like everyone loves us, based on the comments to that article!</sarcasm>
Looks like everyone loves us, based on the comments to that article!
</sarcasm>
Not that anyone’s done it in this post, but I wish people would stop equating “more science students” and “de-weirding.” Science nerds are weird!
Not that anyone’s done it in this post, but I wish people would stop equating “more science students” and “de-weirding.” Science nerds are weird!
The one advantage we have here is that our school is small. If you can just manage to get your ass up to do something, you can really shape the school. Unfortunately, I’m usually stuck at the getting your ass in gear part
The one advantage we have here is that our school is small. If you can just manage to get your ass up to do something, you can really shape the school. Unfortunately, I’m usually stuck at the getting your ass in gear part
the actual upshot being, go be weird. weird and loud and crazy and creative. Liability be damned. Live a little, wes.(-esb)
the actual upshot being, go be weird. weird and loud and crazy and creative. Liability be damned. Live a little, wes.
(-esb)
my contributions generally involve sjb-able offenses, power tools and nerf guns.also occasionally whiskey.-esb
my contributions generally involve sjb-able offenses, power tools and nerf guns.
also occasionally whiskey.
-esb