<p>Well, I guess Winston didn’t mean Swarthmore when he talks about “extravagant wealth”? Whom, then, was he referring to? The lack of growth has left Swarthmore well behind “the competition” that grew in offering a balanced academic experience - from music, to foreign languages, to theatre, to creative writing, to art, to dance. They can make up for some of this by providing good resources for small departments in some instances (and they do!), but they can’t make up for the lack of a core of students for whom they are a passion.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is a great, great school, don’t get me wrong, but they’ve sacrificed a lot in my view for their rather narrow take of what a college education is all about. (And if you look back to the 60s, the school didn’t use to be this way.) There are students of course who enjoy the fetish of being known as attending the school where students never stop studying (whether its true or not, or whether more so than a dozen other places, I would have no idea - you’d know a lot better than I. But if it isn’t true, why do they revel in it?). I think it is terrific for those who like that idea. To me, and to the vast majority of talented, intelligent, creative students, that’s more of a slam than something to be particularly proud of.</p>
<p>But that’s why there is a market!</p>