Brown University

October 19, 2004:
My impression when I first came to Brown was of a liberal haven of granola-munching students. One month later, I'm ready to say that I wasn't too far off. Of course, the school has many students who defy the stereotype. I met many conservatives, athletes, and preppies too. But as a first impression, it is pretty accurate.

I am very thankful for the help of the students at Brown. I appreciate the time that they spent helping me and showing me their lives.

October 14, 2004:
When I started this project, I knew that my perspective would change as I proceeded. I knew that by the end, I would be able to look back at the first schools that I visited and see things that I didn't previously realize were important.

One of those perspective shifts occurred at Brown. The people seem to study more passionately/franticly than the students I met at the first school. For an institution that has a reputation of being laid-back, people seemed to be under a decent amount of stress. I suspect, however, that students at each of the Ivies are going through the same period now. It is the season of mid-term exams.

That fact became clear to me last week when I finally got around to visiting a very popular Neuroscience class. Many people recommended it, so I walked in to take a seat in the back of the auditorium. When I tried to sit down beside a young girl, she squeaked, "You can't sit here!" Seeing my confusion, she added, "We have to sit in every other seat."

I thought it was an odd seating arrangement, until I noticed the professor making his way up the aisle handing out thick exam booklets.

"Is there a test today?" I asked the students sitting around me. When they began to nod, I leapt from my chair, saying, "I'm outta here!"

Based on the laughter and applause, I must be doing an okay job of blending with students.

October 4, 2004:
Many years ago today, I began Marine Corps Recruit Training at Parris Island, SC. It isn't especially relevant, but every year I recognize that anniversary without mentioning it to anyone.

The Brown Daily Herald ran a great article about my project today. I hope it will encourage more people to reach out to me.

But I'm not exactly sitting around bored in the meantime. Last weekend, I attended the 80's fraternity party, thanks to one of the brothers. Tomorrow night, I'm going to a rehearsal of the Brown Derbies, and I hope to watch the Presidential Debates with some students. Wednesday morning, I'll be in an introductory Public Policy course, thanks to Professor Cheit; and that evening, I'll be at the UCS meeting.

Over the weekend, one of my very best friends, Katie, came into town. She is a Brown alumna, and she is now working at one of the most prestigious Wall Street law firms. When Katie hopped off the train, the first thing she said to me was, "We have so much to do!"

She must have meant, "We have so much to eat!" because we traveled from restaurant to restaurant. We ate on Federal Hill the first night before moving on to Louis, Wings to Go, and Paragon. Sitting at the bar at Andreas, we met Andreas. We visited the GCB and Kartabar. When she left, I was sad, but at least I wasn't hungry.

September 29, 2004:
My time at Brown is getting better. I am meeting more students and finding my way around campus. Don't get me wrong: I'd like to meet 20 students for every one that I've met so far, and I'd like to find a place to live so I don't become the homeless guy on campus, but things are definitely looking up.

I encountered something unusual in my interactions at Brown. Every time I ask a question—which classes are the best, what should I see while I'm here, etc.—I get the same answer: It is different for everyone. I have heard it so often that I propose that we abandon the motto in deo speramus for quot homines, tot fulvae.

Brown is a place for people to explore their own interests, and that becomes obvious as soon as you understand the Open Curriculum at the university. Students must concentrate (not major) in a subject area, and they must satisfy distribution requirements in those fields. Beyond that, students are free to study whatever they want.

There are no university distribution requirements, so an English major can completely avoid math and science. A student can take every class S/NC (pass/fail), so she never has to worry about the consequences of exploring a foreign subject. If one of the more than 100 concentrations does not appeal to a student by the end of sophomore year, she can create her own. Students have advisors and a support network to keep them from floundering, but the decisions about defining and pursuing and education are left in the hands of the students.

I suppose that I always knew about the curriculum, but it never really struck me how cool it was until I saw it in action. As much as I liked ticking off my distribution requirements so I could move on to more interesting classes, I would have preferred to just go straight to the interesting classes. A study showed that 93% of Brown students satisfy the distribution requirements of other schools during their time at Brown, and I wonder if I would have too.

Finally, many people know that Brown students shorten the names of words and phrases. For example, the John. D. Rockefeller Library is called "the Rock." But they also pronounce these shortenings in ways that invite a pronunciation guide. For example, the eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education is called PLME. Obvious, right? But it is pronounced "plee-me." I may include or neglect some phonetic guides in these travelogues, but you can always write to me for clarification.

September 21, 2004:
I arrived at Brown yesterday morning. It is a big shift from Cornell.

There is a pole on the Brown campus where every destination on the 143-acre campus is less than seven minutes away. The "main" part of the campus is gated to separate the university from its neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island. Many of the students, who blend with the students of the Rhode Island School of Design, or RISD (pronounced "Riz-Dee"), look like modern-day hippies.

This is a challenging part of my project. I had only visited Brown once for about an hour before I began my project yesterday. I do not know anyone in the area, and I do not even have a place to live yet. The administration at Brown is the only one of the four Ivies that I have already approached to say that I was not welcome—even Yale has invited me in!

The students, however, are my best chance at really finding out what life at Brown is like, and I am looking forward to meeting more of them in the coming weeks.

Princeton University >
April 20 - present

Harvard University >
March 20 - April 20

Columbia University >
February 25 - March 20

University of Pennsylvania >
January 17 - February 17

Yale University >
November 15 - December 19

Dartmouth College >
October 20 - November 15

< Cornell University
August 24 - September 20