<p>For all its success in increasing its applicant pool, Wesleyan has been taking its share of hard knocks in the past year:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The tragic murder of a student;</p></li>
<li><p>The lawsuit against its financial advisor, as detailed in yesterday’s NY Times, blaming him in part for the large endowment decline; </p></li>
<li><p>The power plant explosion in Middletown today, resulting in several deaths.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>What does the power plant explosion have to do with Wesleyan other than it being in the same city.</p>
<ol>
<li> Yeah, to be clear, the power plant did result in several (tragic) deaths, but not of anyone related to Wes. It didn’t effect Wes at all…</li>
</ol>
<p>Not seeing the jinx.</p>
<p>Perhaps it’s Middletown—not Wesleyan—that’s jinxed with bizarre flashes of violence lately. Don’t forget the human skeleton in the woods, or the Middletown resident who murdered a Yale graduate student and stuffed her body behind a wall.</p>
<p>It’s not fair to Swat if the city/town is as fabulous as the school is
by the way does any of those paper reading analyzing list making people know how many “Middletown” s in US?
I counted five or six so far.</p>
<p>I guess, the thing that stands out for me (other than the injuries and tragic loss of life) is just how spread out Middletown is. The blast took place five miles away from the virtual center of town which, to me, suggests Middletown encompasses a land area equal to the entire Amherst/So.Hadley/Northampton area a little further north.</p>
<p>I would say that you have suggested quite the opposite, SwatGrad… that despite the murder of a student and the apparent mischievous behavior of the CIO (and the UNRELATED power plant explosion), Wesleyan has boosted its applicant pool to over 10,000 and kept it there. many prospective students are excited about attending this great institution.</p>
<p>judging by your past comments, I suggest you keep any incendiary remarks to yourself, SwatGrad, lest you stir up any undue emotions</p>
<p>also, the main thrust of Wesleyan’s case against Kannam is that he spent school funds and time on other things, not that he harmed the endowment. in fact, he produced excellent returns up until the financial crisis hit.</p>
<p>I’m simply observing that bad things seem to happening in and around Wesleyan. Not trying to be incendiary or to stir up emotions. </p>
<p>I did notice in the NY Times piece that, for a school of its size, its endowment is rather on the low side, compared to some of the other liberal arts colleges with which it claims to compete. All this to say is that the increase in applications may be simply a result of effective marketing as opposed to anything more genuinely attractive about the school itself.</p>
<p>I don’t have a problem with someone posting comments on this board intended to provoke emotional reactions – that’s just another day on the Web.</p>
<p>However, it’s sadly inappropriate to take a tragic accident that killed and maimed many construction workers and devastated their families, and use it to leverage an ongoing grudge against a college. That’s the kind of thing they teach you not to do at a place like Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has had an interesting endowment history, to be sure. At one point in the 60’s/early 70’s, Wesleyan had the highest endowment/student in the country (even greater than Harvard). However, Wesleyan decided to spend rather than save, resulting in some impressive additions to the campus (like the Center for the Arts) but hurting the endowment long-term, especially with less gifts added than peer schools (hence falling behind). Wesleyan has changed its investing and directs more gifts towards the endowment now, but yes, Wesleyan is less well-endowed. However, the endowment only comprises 16% of the budget, and Wesleyan still spends close to the average budget $/student of its peer group, even with a lower endowment $/student.</p>
<p>Also note that endowment size doesn’t necessarily mean that a school is more or less attractive… is Brown ($2 billion) that much less attractive than Harvard ($26 billion)?</p>
<p>Wesleyan is both need-blind and 100% need-based, helping SOOOO many people out. Personally, I think that is all that matters.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And, I would hope, Swarthmore! Apparently SwatGrad just didn’t get the message…</p>
<p>I totally agree with you. What happened at the power plant is a real tragedy for Middletown and especially for the families of those workers, but not for Wesleyan in particular. You know why? Because colleges aren’t the center of everything. Middletown is way more than Wesleyan, and this tragedy is bigger than Wes.</p>
<p>posted by:<br>
johnwesley</p>
<p>“Swat Applications Up 8%
Nice rebound from last year’s slump:”</p>
<p>simply responding to Mr. JohnWesley’s observation and his implication that the number of applicants is somehow reflective of actual quality. No need to get all defensive, Wesleyan boosters.</p>
<p>^^That’s odd. You couldn’t make the same point on the original (Swarthmore) thread?</p>
<p>SwatGrad, you’ve come to this forum before with a bone to pick, and while I reserve judgment and respect your posts, you seem to reserve your more insightful comments for the Swarthmore forum, to say the least.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There’s actually a class like that? How eerily specific.</p>
<p>As for the original question: you could probably find four horrible things that have happened in any city in America and tie them together with some sort of jinx or conspiracy theory.</p>
<p>I thought my post would look prettier here, Mr. Wesley.</p>
<p>you mean, more non-parents will see it.</p>
<p>SwatGrad, aren’t you writing in Los Angeles? The entertainment community is small, and we all know each other, especially all us Wes alums in it.</p>
<p>When I was choosing college and sorting through my acceptances, I narrowed it down to Wesleyan and Swarthmore. On my final visits to each place, I have to say, I was overwhelmed by the per student endowment opportunities at Swarthmore, but just really found Swat students’ self-imposed, dramatic, academic misery not so fun.</p>
<p>I guess had I gone to Swat, I could have spent a year or so after graduation talking about how hard, but fulfilling the academics were, and about how smart I must be to have graduated from there, and, oh, did I mention that huge endowment? But out in the real world, most people haven’t heard of Swarthmore or Wesleyan or peers with whom we claim to compete or their endowments; no one really cares.</p>
<p>Let’s ponder more jinxes; a great use of time.</p>
<p>“SwatGrad, aren’t you writing in Los Angeles? The entertainment community is small, and we all know each other, especially all us Wes alums in it.”</p>
<p>Your point being?</p>