If it has that reputation (and I don’t know any American who uses the word “hippy” and still expects to be taken seriously) it is only in comparison to the packaged, beauty pageant, atmospheres extant on some of the more stereotypical Ivies. So much time and money is spent on recruiting future Olympians, future hedge fund managers, future Hollywood stars, future Rhode Scholars, future Supreme Court justices - future Masters of the Universe, to use a common trope - that there’s scarcely any room for these kids to do anything but eat, drink and sleep whatever it is they were recruited to be. Brown suffers from a bit of this, but to a far lesser degree than the other Ivies, in part, thanks to the Open Curriculum. And, perhaps due to stubborn self-selection over the years.
5 Likes