Celebs at Brown

modestmelody
Thu, 12 Jul 2007 08:27:16 +0000

js-- welcome to 1985 and being wrong. There was a time period where Brown was under heavy fire for the open curriculum and for admitting celebs, but we’re more than 10-15 years from when any of that was happening on a serious level.

And of course all of the students who come here are qualified-- there is no lack of qualified applicants at Brown or many of the most selective schools in the nation and as a result we get to choose who we want to admit out of a large pool of people who would fit in great here and are more than qualified, a pool considerably larger than the number of spots we have to offer.

Occasionally, a celebrity or a celebrities child is included in that mix. Do people think less of Harvard because of Sarah Hughes or Natalie Portman or various other celebrities who attend there? Are you making the same complaint, or does this come out of some place where you’re upset that Brown is ranked lower than it probably should be and you’re looking to up prestige (which, among any circle that matters, can hardly be done) and you think that celebrities are effecting that?

They’re not and haven’t been for a while. You’re bringing up issues that existed in Gregorian’s time here, not now, at least not amongst the public. And while books will mention things like URMs, legacies, athletes, and all kinds of preferential groups, I’d hold off before you cast judgment on them until you’re here.

Oh yeah, and I’m a first generation college student (well, four year degree) who’s not rich and not famous.