Gawker: brown university

Thomas Friedman Gets Apology About Pie Thing

Ryan Tate — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:32:50 EDT

A student from Brown University wrote in to "Mr. Gawker," hoping we could convey an apology on his behalf to a Mr. Thomas Friedman, the author and Times columnist whose mustache narrowly escaped sullying in a campus pie-throwing ambush earlier this week. While the student in question did not participate in the pie-flinging or distribution of related leaflets, he is embarrassed, and notes that "actions like these make us seem just plain stupid." Seriously: If you're going to pull a stunt like that, at least practice, so your pie doesn't miss its target. But why couldn't the student just send an email to Thomas Friedman? In a flat world Changed Forever By The Internet, shouldn't a college kid be able to transmit a letter to a newspaper columnist? Apparently not, so we've honored his request and printed his email after the jump.

Dear Mr. Gawker,
My name is Rickie Kostiner and I am a sophomore at Brown University. I am writing to apologize for the deliquiencies of my classmates this past Tuesday evening, when two students decided it was a good idea to throw pies at Thomas Friedman. Not only a respected journalist for your New York Times, Friedman is one of the most respected and famous authors to date, and I want to personally apologize for these students actions. I am embarrassed to even say that I am a student of Brown because of incidents like this. Brown has the reputation of being an overly liberal school, but actions like these make us seem just plain stupid. Obviously only thinking of themselves, these two students made a complete moquary of the entire student body, and really showed how selfish some people can be. I want to stress again how terribly sorry I am for my institution to carry this under their name. I have attempted to find other ways to reach Thomas Friedman directly, but I could not find a more direct way then writing to the newspaper in which he has been affiliated with. I saw your blog online and I just wanted to send my comments. Thank you and again I am so very sorry.
-Rickie Kostiner

(Lead tag "The World Is Splat" courtesy MisterHippity)

Vote For America's Most Annoying Liberal Arts College

Doree Shafrir — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:20:17 EDT

It's time to cast your vote! Yesterday we proposed an initial list of America's most annoying liberal arts colleges. After perusing all your comments and emails, we've come up with a much-refined initial group of contenders for you to vote on. We've also selected the best description of each college from the voluminous correspondence we received on this endlessly fascinating subject. No more write-ins please—sorry, Skidmore!—this is our list and we're sticking to it. To get you started, we turn to the immortal words of commenter LOLCait, who helpfully defined liberal arts colleges for us: "In the form it's being used here, it's a four-year liberal leaning, usually in a small town, college with no grad programs, that rich kids go to feel free and take peyote and wander around campus barefoot and shrieking into the night "I'm a real person!" and then graduate and abandon it all for a good job, only to relive it on screened in porches years later when they find an old joint pressed into a copy of the Stranger, so they toke it even though it's stale and they remember a little bit but then go to bed and wake up just the same as they were the day before." All right then! To the colleges!

First the rationale, and then the voting:
Bard: "A chick I went to HS with went there and within days was smoking opium, having cuddle parties, partaking in "body painting" parties, and majoring in some sort of art. Yeah, definitely the ho's on the Hudson."

Bennington: "Apparently, you can claim to have a degree in anything you took a class in. Or didn't take a class in."

Brown: "it's the same liberal arts bullshit plus all the extra Ivy douchebaggery. Like the students weren't even committed enough to the liberal arts cause to risk that strangers on the street wouldn't immediately recognize their superiority."

Eugene Lang: "Let's take a distinguished and progressive graduate faculty for continentally-influenced social research, and then haplessly attach a poorly run airy-fairy liberal arts college where the undergrad cool-hair kids can major in hipster fuckery and get a head-start on their farther flung liberal arts pals in New England and the Midwest by already living in Williamsburg!!!"

Evergreen: "It's Reed for dumb-fucks. All that no-grades stuff, self-entitled student body, hordes of occasionally-gay band-shirt-wearing twats, absurd classes, the most hipper-than-thou hipsters you've met this side of Williamsburg, etc. BUT THEY'RE ALL IDIOTS ON TOP OF IT. You only go to Evergreen if you got rejected from Reed and Brown. It's truly a marvel."

Goddard: "It's pretty much the predecessor to most of the institutions that you're all mentioning. They never had declared majors, tests, numbered or letter grades. To top it all off, their most famous graduates are the band members of Phish. Top that." [Ed. note: We would also like to note their slogan: "Come to Goddard as you are. Leave the way you want to be."]

Hampshire (via email): "i went there for two and a half years. i had to leave because, after wasting $80,000 of my parents money, i managed to only finish 3 courses although i was never put on academic probation, had my room explode and dorm burn down due to faulty wiring, and managed to make my way up to selling 20 pounds of weed and 50 pills of ecstasy a week. although this was a paltry amount compared to more experienced trust fund drug dealers on campus, i felt i should quit while ahead."

Oberlin: Their grads deliberately make THE most annoying contributions to American culture - Eric Bogosian, Bill Irwin, Julie Taymor, Kim France, Liz Phair, Ed Helms, Josh MacPhee, David Rees, Josh Ritter, and yea, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It's a type."

Reed: "Sure, there's a crunchy vibe going on (it is Oregon after all), and there were a lot of recreational drugs, but generally the people I knew were too busy dropping out or contemplating suicide because of all the rain. Reed does love to talk about how everyone goes on to grad school, but as you've probably figured out, there's no money in that."

Sarah Lawrence: "Some other defining characteristics: everyone's vegan, yet still smokes and wears leather; parties have permanently been replaced by trips to Brooklyn and lots of coke; anonymous shit-talking on livejournal is a sport. Also, it's kind of a tradition that with each entering first year class, everyone complains that the school is becoming too "mainstream" and "normal."

Swarthmore: "It should be on the Most Annoying LAC list because of how sickeningly pretentious most of the students are - in the "My family can afford the $45k per year tuition, but I choose to wear grandma clothes from Goodwill, because ironic attire means I'm interesting, right?" Those emo glasses on everyone. The smugness of kids taking first year seminars on shit like "The Art of the Japanese Tea Ceremony," which is a full semseter course. The complaining about honors theses. The sensitivity. The utter lack of preppiness. The way everyone gushes about how is was his/her (my apologies for using gender specific pronouns!) first choice, that they did NOT want to go to Yale. That they are earning "the best education money can buy."

Vassar: "Naked parties, school-sponsored drinking, the Spin article. And I was constantly meeting people who I was later told were "the heir to the Colgate/Palmolive fortune," or "that guy's dad invented post-its." Also, The Bravery went there. That's gotta count for something."

Wesleyan: "So Doree, if you don't want to hear about Electic, how about all of our AWESOME naked parties!?!?!"

Earlier: Help Us Pick America's Most Annoying Liberal Arts College

Help Us Pick America's Most Annoying Liberal Arts College

Doree Shafrir — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:15:08 EDT

After much discussion, we have come to the conclusion that it might be possible that Oberlin is not, in fact, the most annoying liberal arts college in the world. (Though there's some pretty strong evidence in its favor.) So we've come up with a list of contenders. We acknowledge that most people probably don't have first-hand experience with each of these schools, but we'd like you to think long and hard about your experiences with their graduates, which should be enough to allow you to make blanket generalizations about the nature of the colleges. Also, consider this your introduction; there will be a poll, and later a crowning of the Most Annoying Liberal Arts College In The World. Maybe they'll get a diploma from us! Write-in candidates will also be considered.

The Contenders (in alphabetical order)

Bard: Upstate New York haven for rich, disaffected filmmakers, writers, grade-skippers and artists.
Bennington: Hippie haven in Vermont with optional grades and lots of "creative" types. (Bonus: Bret Easton Ellis went there. Then, so did Jared Paul Stern.)
Brown (honorary liberal arts college): Eurotrash and rich hipster magnet in Providence, R.I.
Hampshire: This "non-traditional" college in Amherst, MA calls itself "experimenting." Whatever that means.
Kenyon: There's not much to do here besides go drink in the Ohio woods. Also, maybe too preppy for our list, maybe.
Oberlin: Asked and answered.
Reed: They're smarter than you. Just ask. Even though they're baked. Also: West Coast represent!
Sarah Lawrence: Breeding ground of coked-up artsy heiresses and the lone faggy heir.
Smith: Lesbians and the LUGS who love them.
Vassar: Favorite of budding editorial assistants everywhere. Male population: See under Sarah Lawrence.
Wesleyan: Our instinctive favorite to take the crown, if only because if we have to hear about one more awesome party at Eclectic we might slit our wrists. Also, heroin is all fun and games until you can't get out of rehab, isn't it!
So there you have it. Mull it over, give us your thoughts—and be ready to vote tomorrow.
[Photo via]

How To Get A Job, Brown University-Style

Doree Shafrir — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:17:18 EDT

The following went out recently on a Brown university listserve:

My daughter a Brown junior - history major - has yet to be able to secure an internship in NYC for this summer. She is interested in law, banking and finance. But is very flexible as she is a true undecided Brown student. A salary is not necessary.
If you know of a possible opening in your company or firm, please contact me and I'll forward along.

[name redacted] '79

"A salary is not necessary." That is also the mark of a true Brown student. Those SUNY grads never had a chance. —Doree

Remainders: Ice Ice Baby

Doree Shafrir — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 17:45:40 EST

Vanilla Ice parties at Stereo like it's 1990. [TMZ]
The Times writes an Editor's Note about the whole WFMU/Metropolitan Diary kerfuffle. [NYT]
The guerrilla marketer behind the Aqua Teen Hunger Force campaign says, "The signs were never designed to scare people, to get people into a panic state." [Brandweek]
Yale students do it in the shower, Brown students do it in the kitchen sink. [IvyGate]