Beer Bike and Beyond
This is not the business plan for a new retail chain; it is the story of my college tour with my 17 year old daughter who is now a junior in high school. We visited Rice University in Houston, Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont over the past five days. Here is what I can report:
1. Most Fun Event—The Beer Bike Day at Rice—We showed up on perhaps the most fun day of the year. Students in each of the nine Rice colleges wear their dorm colors, dab war paint on all extremities, load up trucks full of water balloons and proceed to have a free for all on a mile and a half route around campus. This is followed by a bike race around the velodrome. The sheer inanity of the watery warfare was a perfect start to our visit.
2. Most Touching Scene—4,000 small American flags in snow at Middlebury—To commemorate the fifth anniversary of the US presence in Iraq, students placed small flags in honor of the dead soldiers around the central green on campus, then read out the names of each of the deceased from the steps of the college chapel.
3. Most Nostalgic Moment—My wife, Middlebury class of ’76, realizing as we ate lunch at the Grill, that she had practiced for countless hours on the school diving team in that very facility because it had been the pool before a major renovation a decade ago.
4. Most Interesting College President story—As we toured the Carleton campus, our guide told us that the President teaches a very popular fly-fishing course in the spring. This is the stuff of urban (or in this case rural) legend. A close second was the photo of David Leebron, Rice University president, from his Harvard 76 yearbook in the Rice student newspaper, with a cut line referring to his sex appeal.
5. Moment I Would Rather Not Have Had—At one school, we visited my daughter’s friend, who then introduced us to a roommate who is in bed with her boyfriend. Talk about seeing the future before it happens!
6. Most Consistent Theme—Every school wants to have a global connection. Middlebury takes in 10% of its class from outside of the US; it also maintains 18 campuses abroad, encouraging students to take a junior year off campus. Other institutions have established links with the most prestigious universities in China, Spain etc. on the basis that students are better served by being integrated with nationals than studying only with peers from their own school.
7. A Building Boom—Every school we visited has significant construction underway. At Rice, there are two new undergraduate colleges and a recreation center, at Middlebury a new center for visual studies and arts, at Northwestern a gigantic science facility, all part of the heightened competition for the best students.
8. Different Philosophies on Greek System—Only at Northwestern did we find an important fraternity and sorority scene, with 40% of undergraduates participating in this social outlet. In fact the other schools actively discourage this.
9. Go to School, Find Your Mate—I used to joke with my wife about the high rate of Middlebury College student intermarriage. Little did I know that my comments were accurate; nearly 20% of Middlebury graduates marry each other; the same is true at Rice.
10. High Teacher to Student Ratio—When you wonder why college tuitions are so high, consider that the teacher to student ratio at each of these schools is 6:1. Professors actually teach, they don’t just lecture.
It was an impressive and informative five days. Of course, it is bittersweet for a parent, recognizing that the tour is the beginning for your child but the end of her childhood. I would appreciate your comments as always.
