Issue date: 8/20/05 Section: opinion

Versus Magazine Online [Image based format]

I, like most soon-to-be college freshmen, did significant research on my prospective college. I memorized every link of the school webpage, joined the "Vanderbrats" Live Journal community, and of course, visited the school. I was pretty set on going to Vandy, but after visiting the botanical garden that is our campus I was completely sold.

The marathon of a campus tour was led by a large, nipple-pierced DKE brother. We walked around the perimeter of the campus, stopping at the nicer buildings and dorms (Sarratt, Vandy - Barnard and Furman) and avoiding some of the lackluster ones (Kissam, Stevenson Center, and the interior of the Central Library) but over all it was a pretty decent tour. And I have to admit that what you see is what you get. The problem is that there is a lot that you don't see or rather isn't said, particularly in the way of student life. So when I got home and found myself wondering, "What is it that Vanderbilt students actually do?" I turned to the best friend of every over-anxious high school senior, the college guide book, my personal favorite being The Princeton Review: America's Best Colleges.

What I read was a little unnerving. The series of short reviews on everything from academics to race relations confirmed the stereotypes that I had already heard, but hadn't necessarily bought into. There were all of the obvious ones, that Vanderbilt was preppy, conservative, rich and religious, plus a few new ones such as a lack of racial interaction and intolerance to alternative lifestyles. I sat down and began to process the events of my tour. Now that I thought about it, I did remember seeing a lot of trendy black Prada messenger bags and the parking lot did have quite a few luxury automobiles with "W" stickers on the bumper. And that was just the beginning. Apparently Greek Life was inescapable, the athletic program sucked, the entire student body was apathetic to the community, Nashville only had country music, the school was run by Christian fundamentalists, and all of the squirrels had rabies. Just what on earth had I gotten myself into? It took a semester or two, but with facts and experience I gained some real insight on the deconstruction of the Vanderbilt Myth.


THE GOOD:

Gee Sightings: Everyone loves the Gee and his bowties and it is guaranteed that you will meet the Chancellor at least three times before you graduate. I've bumped into the Gee at Ro-Tiki, Rand, The Homecoming Parade and at a Halloween frat party, yes a frat party. [Editor's Note: Although he is notoriously absent at student multicultural events.]

Continued...

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