Not a single pair of open-toed shoes in the bunch!
I’m sure that crew was a hoot at parties back in the day.
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Speaking of bongos, Wesleyan had its own brush with mid-century modern pop, “The Highwaymen”:
Awakenings: Spiritual to Pop
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Middlebury and Williams carrying the conference water in this one. Well done. Tufts is in there too, and I suspect will be featured more prominently on lists like these in the years to come; they are on a tear.
Also, shoutout to Kenyon. I didn’t realize they were so dominant, and I wonder what happened. That soccer coach recruited my D perhaps harder than anyone.
Michael Row the Boat Ashore??? Wow, blast from the past.
One of my favorite bands ever is from Wes. MGMT, Time to Pretend.
Also, Kids.
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I’m going to put myself into some kind of unflattering category here, but cquin85 is nothing if not honest:
before my kid went to Wes, and honestly most of the time she was there, I had never heard of them.
Lol.
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I wonder if they will name the new one after Frost again. Some building on that campus ought to bear his name. Not everything should be for sale.
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It was definitely a big deal at the time:
https://www.amherst.edu/library/archives/exhibitions/kennedy/groundbreaking
The President is flanked on his left by Amherst Trustee, John J. “Jack” McCloy, lawyer, diplomat and the unofficial Chairman of the Board of the East Coast “Establishment”. And, at the very top, the square-jawed man with glasses facing camera left is Victor L. Butterfield, President of Wesleyan. John E. Sawyer, President of Williams was also present.
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Great shot, have been watching Rooster on HBO Max this summer and enjoying all of the veiled NESCAC references, Steve Carell takes a fall trying to climb “Stone Hill” aka Williams hiking path.
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What a funny show!
Looks like the Hamilton campaign paid off. Respect.
Personally, I would choose Vassar and Hamilton over NYU any day. I’d also choose Skidmore over most of the schools listed above it but there’s room for debate there.
Ouch to Syracuse and RPI.
And it looks like Barnard is listed twice. What’s up with that?
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LinkedIn just published its new list of the top 50 colleges for career success. NESCACs are well represented:
- Tufts (18)
- Trinity (36)
- Middlebury (37)
- Williams (48)
- Bowdoin (49)
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amherst is mentioned multiple times in both of these series:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34771210/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk I will find u
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt35587659/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk 5star weekend
in the former, the 2 leads supposedly met there but do not pronounce it correctly (h is silent) and also get a dig in at the expense of williams 
. harlan coben is a proud amherst alum.
while the latter leans on it numerous times being a prestigious institution for “premed.” no connection could currently be found since the teleplay changed the school from nyu. but they execute proper pronunciation 
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Agreed, is has been renewed so look forward for more antics next season, the beer pong scene was well done!
A good read. I will still be rooting for Wes in the annual tilt but still a good NESCAC story about the Ephs.
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btw 5 star weekend has been renewed 
I might be able to watch the first one but forget the second one. It’s not happening. Not saying it won’t be on my house at some point. I’m sure it will. But I’ll be doing something else.
Colby sociologist, Neil Gross makes a compelling case that our colleges and universities are “more political than ever”:
The voices of actual students have been strangely missing from the national conversation about politics and higher education. Even though I interact with students all the time as a professor at Colby College in Maine, I learned so much conducting the research for this book. One thing I found was how much our nation’s polarized politics are changing the geography of students’ college searches. Among students with the ability to go out of state for college — even if it’s just the next state over — there are lots on the left who flat out refuse to consider schools in conservative states, fearing things like restrictions on abortion access or a lack of protection for LGBTQ rights. I also spoke with conservative students who were fleeing the more progressive states where they grew up. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on how, if at all, politics shaped your own college searches or those of your kids.
](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/07/opinion/college-politics-woke-polarization.html#permid=153188147)
To which I kind of have to say, “D’uh.” Your thoughts?
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My thought is that the New York Times loves to publish this column over and over again.
In this case, the author offers no data proving his thesis that this is new or different; instead, he offers some current data and asserts that this is new or different. But it sounds just like my experience in college 35 years ago, which is to say, people tend to congregate with people whose values are similar, and most people generally are not actually interested in provoking debate in their day-to-day lives. College is a social experience as much as an academic one, and it’s a training ground for life, where in our day-to-day lives we generally do not seek to provoke or air out disagreement.
I’d also note that he does not even acknowledge that many students who won’t consider schools in certain states are reacting to those states’ laws, which could endanger their liberty/safety. There’s an actually interesting column exploring that trend: how many women won’t go to schools in states with laws that will prevent them from getting reproductive health care? How many LGBTQ students are no longer considering schools in states with laws that make their existence illegal? How many students interested in discussing race, gender, sexuality, and religion in all their messiness are avoiding states with “don’t say gay” laws or where “divisive concepts” can’t be discussed in the classroom? What effect is that having on those schools’ diversity and openness to debate and dialogue?
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This will have a strong impact, or is already having such an effect, on colleges in red states that have a history of being progressive. Not a NESCAC, but Oberlin comes to mind, especially in light of the history of the conflict that Oberlin College has had with the town of Oberlin. Other LACs in Ohio (there are a large number of them) have better relationships with the town that they are in, and are in more progressive towns, like Kenyon and Gambier.
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