To many Minnesotans:
Northwestern is the University of Northwestern, a conservative Christian college in Saint Paul with an oddly ungrammatical name.
Brown is Brown College, a small for-profit college just outside of Saint Paul. Or rather it was—it’s now closed.
Cornell is Cornell College, a small liberal arts college in Iowa.
If someone around here says they’re a Northwestern, Brown, or Cornell grad, it’s wise to ask a follow-up question.