<p>I was in the supermarket today and caught some guy wearing t-shirt that read, “Harvard University”. This was no academic function or sports rally, it just an ordinary errand that almost everyone is expected to do.</p>
<p>This man was clearly trying to make it known he attended “the” Harvard, the ultimate school in the universe. Why would someone feel it is necessary to project their past on others??</p>
<p>It’s like the yuppie lawyer who nails STANFORD above his Mercedes license plate. </p>
<p>Does anyone feel a slight sense of resentment to those who portray themselves like this??</p>
<p>And please, don’t tell me all of this can be attributed to academic loyalty. These people are far from loyal. They’d drop that shirt in a heart beat if it read Dayton Community College, or NYU’s department of academic probation. </p>
<p>What in the world! If that same guy had worn a State university shirt you would NOT have reacted the same way. So he isn’t allowed to show school pride or wear anything from his alma mater simply because he went to an amazing school? You can imply the reason why he was wearing the shirt just from looking at him? And you’re also saying that Harvard students only see their school as a “name”, right? Nobody actually likes Harvard for anything besides prestige? What an incredibly narrow-minded view of Ivy League students, perhaps stemming from jealousy or resentment toward those talented students who made it in. Every enthusiastic college student has clothes from his/her college, but according to your POV, any student from a well known school who actually wears this clothing is “showing off.” If you go to Arizona State you can wear your Arizona State shirt to the grocery market and that’s just normal, but if you go to Harvard, you can’t wear your Harvard shirt unless you’re going to a school function. “Clearly!” Hmm…it seems that you can read others’ minds, since you know the exact thought processes behind their wardrobe decisions.</p>
<p>I think that people wearing these shirts that got accepted and attend those schools is ok to do. They have worked their but off to get into that school and are very proud that they are going there. It is a way of awarding yourself for the achievements one has made. They are proud that they are going to that school and want to be recognized for their achievements they have made. Its like wearing your favorite football teams shirt the day after they have one or having a sticker of that persons team on their car. They like that team and are proud to represent them. Thats my thoughts on the subject, doesnt mean im right, just what i am thinking about it.</p>
<p>Just because someone is wearing a school shirt/sweatshirt for a college, it doesn’t mean they go there or went there. I see high school freshmen walking around with Stanford sweatshirts. At my college, I see people wearing the sweatshirts of other schools all the time. </p>
<p>“Dayton Community College, or NYU’s department of academic probation”</p>
<p>But isn’t this true of many people—not just those who attend “elitist” universities?</p>
<p>And just for the record, most students who attend these schools really find it unfortunate how when they do the same things people from other schools do (ex: wearing college shirts) without problem, people accuse them of bragging. There’s this pressure that somehow they’re supposed to “downplay” the fact that they go there.</p>
<p>I was just accepted to a great school (not Harvard, but there is some prestige)… and I wear my shirt as often as possible, not to shove it in other people’s faces, but because I feel so much joy (could be the whole sinking in thing that I’m GOING to my dream school!). When I look down at my shirt, I just start smiling. It’s personal.</p>
<p>I have friends who wear Harvard shirts that don’t go to Harvard and aren’t even applying… it’s just a school. Now, if you had seen this Harvard man at a BU event… then I might see your point.</p>
<p>Where I live, parents commonly wear shirts or sweatshirts and display car stickers of the colleges their kids attend. Most of these students attend colleges which are not well known or particularly prestigious. Many people also wear clothes/display car stickers of high school sports teams and even non-school sports leagues (e.g. travel soccer), not to mention our local professional football team, which is a mania around here. My kids happen to attend/have attended very selective schools - should I not wear clothes or display car stickers like my neighbors do for fear of being considered an elitist?</p>
<p>My son loves the (prestigious) school he graduated from in 2006. He is now living and working near his school, and he attends sports events there, stays in touch with many friends and even some of his professors, and, in general, feels connected to the school. He and the other seniors were given a license plate frame from the school’s Alumni Association when he graduated and he put it on his car (which is not a Mercedes ) I don’t think it is showing off at all to display pride in a school you feel part of.</p>
<p>After 3 years with my D doing her Christmas shopping at the campus bookstore, we now have sweatshirts, coffee mugs, water bottles and all sorts of stuff with the school logo. My wife often wears one of the sweatshirts and I use one of the mugs. Considering the amount of money we are paying for tuition, I feel entitled.</p>
<p>How far would you go in the correlation of rankings and school attire? Is it unacceptable to wear HYP shirts because that’s bragging but ok to wear Penn and Cornell shirts because they’re easier to get into? Or is all ivy attire unacceptable. Frankly, I wear Penn shirts and shirts from individual schools at the university to the gym, running errands etc. and if people think I’m bragging, I really don’t care. I’m proud of having gone there. And having spent a sizeable portion of my life there, sometimes I like wearing things representing that part of my life.</p>
<p>You know, my son has 4 different shirts of his school, and will sometimes wear them out, but <em>never</em> on campus. He thinks it’s tacky to wear shirts like that to class.</p>
<p>I’m with Edad. I have a bunch of college logo stuff from both kids’ colleges. And I use them proudly. Gee…I wonder if anyone gets offended when they see me wearing my fleeces or using my coffee mugs…or when they look at the decal on my car (the only FREE thing given to me by any of the schools). I too feel entitled.</p>
<p>My kids each used to have a UCLA t-shirt - given to them one Christmas by my niece who went there. Just because a person is wearing a college shirt does not mean they go there, went there, or are bragging.</p>
<p>I think this is just indicative of an underlying sense of jealousy or resentment on your part, HSIsOverrated. Nothing else. The fact that you impute motives onto the people wearing that stuff just solidifies that image in my mind.</p>
<p>I am currently wearing the sweatshirt my son gave me for Christmas (not HYP but cool nonetheless)–and am proud to wear it! He did all his shopping at the school bookstore for everyone–from the 4 month old cousin (snoopy logo shirt) to the grandmothers (oven mitts!). I think its great and agree that its fine and common to show school spirit!</p>
<p>I have sweatshirts from all kinds of schools – not just ones I attended or that my kids might attend. I like them – they’re comfy. What’s the big deal?</p>
<p>I have a sweatshirt with my Ds college on it & one with her sisters high school.
I wear both of them proudly & have had multiple conversations initiated by others because of the shirts.</p>
<p>I used to wear a Reed tshirt to my gym & that way met a dear woman whose * kids* were older than me- and one was a Reed alumna and is now a history prof @ Harvard. If I hadn’t worn that shirt we might haven’t struck up a conversation, but after that we made a point to chat every time we saw each other.
I think school shirts can connect people in a way that shirts that state our political affliations or how what music we like don’t usually…
Of course I have also asked someone at the gym who was wearing a Reed shirt if she went to Reed & she said she got it at Goodwill ;)</p>
<p>I don’t have a shirt from the community college I attend- but that isn’t to say I wouldn’t wear one. ( I actually haven’t seen any- and I do have a tote bag that says EDCC on it)</p>
<p>If you do wear a shirt with a college logo you should behave yourself however. When visiting Newgrange megolith tomb in Ireland there was a fellow there with a Harvard sweatshirt in our tour group who was a real jerk. Not too impressive.</p>
<p>My son did all his Christmas shopping at college bookstore and we proudly wear the college gear. (Now that I think about it, I think I bought my own Christmas present!!). It is a huge conversation starter and many people will come up and ask if I attended school or who currently attends.</p>
<p>I routinely invade S’s drawer of t-shirts he did not take to school this fall to wear doing errands and wear to the gym. Some of them include t-shirts he acquired in high school when he had competitions at different universities and t-shirts he thought were just ‘cool’ when we did campus visits, as well as t-shirts from his current university. I never gave it a thought that someone would think I was bragging that either I, or my child, was attending (or had attended) any of these schools.</p>
<p>Gee, I have T-shirt of my alma mater (Harvard), 2 T-shirts from younger S’s LAC (a second tier), a T-shirt from the second tier public that older S attended, and some T-shirts from the 2nd tier public where I used to teach. Within the last year, I’ve worn them all. No big deal. </p>
<p>Husband has T-shirts and sweatshirts from the college where he teaches, S’s college, and both of H’s alma maters.</p>
<p>Surprises me that anyone would take offense at what college T-shirt anyone wears. I am amazed sometimes at what irritates other people.</p>
) I don’t think it is showing off at all to display pride in a school you feel part of.</p>