Truth in advertising?

unalove
Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:16:57 +0000

I read (and re-read, and re-re-read) this piece that appeared in the Maroon a few weeks ago, and I thought it was worthy of sharing.

[Chicago Maroon » Inferiority complex is so U of C](http://maroon.uchicago.edu/online_edition/viewpoints/2007/11/27/9678/)

My favorite part:



The College admissions main page also claims that, “at Chicago, conversation is the style [of the life of the mind].” In my house lounge, when I hear people have a “U of C conversation”—usually discussing Marx or Hume or someone of the sort—someone inevitably says proudly, “Wow! That was so U of C!” The fact that this is so self-consciously admitted detracts from its authenticity.



I think Matt does a good job of pointing out that the U of C doesn’t always live up to the pixie dust that gets sprayed over viewbooks and mailings. U of C kids are not intellectual all the time (a good deal of the time we’re watching YouTube, drinking foul-smelling liquids, playing broomball, and baking cookies), but rather that intellectual conversations will pop up in the most unlikely places about the most arbitrary things.

I also think that when people exclaim “this is so U of C!” (I’ve heard it too), they are comparing the nerdquotient of college conversations and college experiences to their high school conversations and high school experiences. It’s not like people are saying “This would never happen at any other school!”, they are saying “This is what happens at this school!”