Upstate NY schools - Bard, Skidmore, Ithaca

bopambo
Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:13:29 +0000

“It is basically the Williams of the PNW (with the rural, drinking thing as well).”

I’ve never been to Williams so I can’t compare towns or student cultures, but I’d like to point out that drinking is not the prevailing campus culture at Whitman. Yes, students do drink (especially newly minted freshman), but there are many who don’t or don’t much. There is plenty to do on campus every night and every weekend besides partying. The school is a active and engaged community.

When you say rural, that evokes images of a school in a corn field, but the campus is in the middle of a nice town of 30,000. Students have plenty to do on and off campus. Whitman has fraternities and sororities, and a fair number of students join, but they are much more service oriented and inclusive than many.

The vast majority of parties happen at the fraternity houses and the parties are open to all. The school stresses safety over punishment in it’s alcohol policy so you don’t find kids drinking their brains out in tiny parties behind closed dorm room doors. If a student has had too much alcohol to be safe alone (many an 18 year old has exercised bad judgement), the responsibility of those around is to take that student to the health center which is open 24/7. I am very relieved by Whitman’s approach.