Gawker
shut up, college
Posts Tagged “
Ivy League
”
shut up, college
priya venkatesan
Student-Suing Prof Wrote a Lame Senior Thesis
Former Dartmouth lecturer Priya Venkatesan famously tried to sue all her students for being mean to her. Now, as a researcher at Northwestern, she's probably less likely to have her academic feathers ruffled by entitled little Ivy frosh retching at talk of power structures. But she does still have to deal with their student newspapers digging up embarrassing things about her. Embarrassing things like... her senior thesis. It's called Montaigne and Macbeth: Rebellion, Gender and Patriarchy in the Renaissance. Of course. More »
ivy league
Fancy Harvard Mag Gets New Downmarket Owner
For some reason we thought 02138—the annoyingly named pretend Harvard alumni magazine that proclaimed itself Vanity Fair for people who went to Harvard and wished to read a second, inferior Vanity Fair each month—had already been shuttered by Atlantic Media. Well, it's alive. Tiny, unknown Manhattan Media (they own the New York Press and some things you've never heard of) bought the magazine from Atlantic Media for an undisclosed price. The publisher will remain cofounder Bom Kim (for now), but Manhattan Media has decided to expand the brand into—wait for it—social networking. Then they will introduce new versions of the magazine for every other Ivy League school, because if there's a group of people who don't have enough media outlets to write for, it's Ivy grads. Amusingly, the Manhattan Media press release announcing the deal leaves out their only existing holding anyone remembers reading: the embarrassing second-string alt-weekly New York Press. That release after the jump, along with a selection from this week's Press "guest sex columnist." [NYT] More »
priya venkatesan
Everyone Passes Student-Suing Prof's Class!
Finally, some good news for the students Dartmouth lecturer Priya Venkatesan (we can spell her name without looking it up now! Christ!) tried to sue, or is maybe still trying to sue, or who at the very least will soon end up in her tell-all book. The writing class they took with her last semester is now retroactively pass/fail! School officials "reviewed the grades she gave to students in the Winter term and have concluded that they were not consistent with the feedback that she provided to the students." So said Associate Dean Lindsay Whaley, who will now be added to the lawsuit, in the court of make-believe. [Dartmouth Review]
priya venkatesan
Welcome to Northwestern, Student-Suing Prof!
Former Dartmouth lecturer Priya Venkatesan, the woman who threatened to sue her students for being mean to her and not caring about post-modernism, is now a research associate at Northwestern. She'll definitely end up with plenty of material for her forthcoming book at NU, especially because the blog College On the Record has already published her email address and invited students to harass her. Venkatesan declined to speak with the Wall Street Journal when they wrote that terrible op-ed about the situation, saying she'd said all she needed to say to The Dartmouth Review (and boy, did she). And today, the Harvard Crimson weighed in! More »
pompous tools
Student-Suing Professor Roundly Disliked
Now it's official: everyone involved in any capacity with the Priya Venkatesan affiar annoys the hell out of us. To recap, Ms. Venkatesan was a Dartmouth lecturer who decided to sue her students for harassment or something because they heckled her. She is clearly a pompous tool. Her students are also probably pompous tools. Now a pompous tool who writes for the Wall Steet Journal editorial page weighs in with an indictment against academia. Joseph Rago attended Dartmouth, you see, though he totally didn't like it very much and didn't even try very hard in his classes. Because of post-modernism. Writing papers for lit classes is just like "filling in Mad Libs," he explains. Writing indictments of academia for the Wall Street Journal editorial page, on the other hand, is more like Pictionary. After the jump: amusing student reviews of Venkatesan's class from an internal Dartmouth page. The kids didn't really like her! More »
scandal
The Decaf Deception: Yalies Rail Against Sleepy Sneak
The Yale Daily News has uncovered a bombshell: The University Dining Services-operated Thain Family Cafe secretly replaced its caffeinated espresso with decaf beans. They've been serving useless, unstimulating brown water to caffeine-fiending students since April 15, with no intention of revealing the ruse. This scrappy student paper got their hands on the documents that prove it: "An unsigned letter received by the News last week included a supposed photocopy of a Thain Café logbook entry from Feb. 29 that reads: 'We will also run out of reg. espresso and French roast most likely—secretly use decaf espresso to substitute the espresso—for the French, I don't know—I think we'll just have to be out.'" Cafe Manager Brian Yezierski denied the charges. But! Journalism! More »
Dartmouth's Dearth of Dictionaries
Dartmouth Dean of First-Year students Gail M. Zimmerman, in an email to students threatened with a lawsuit by Priya Venkatesan:
Dartmouth Dean of First-Year students Gail M. Zimmerman, in an email to students threatened with a lawsuit by Priya Venkatesan:Questions arose as to our ability to block Prof. Venkatesan's emails. Whether that ability exists or not, it would not likely stop her emails from reaching your inbox given the dearth and ready availability of other free email systems such as hotmail, gmail, and yahoo.Ah, yes. The "dearth and ready availability" of free email addresses. You never cease to impress us, Ivies! [Dartlog via IvyGate]
priya venkatesan
Ivy League Lawsuit Update
In case you hadn't heard, Dartmouth lecturer Priya Venkatesan has dropped the discrimination lawsuit she inexplicably filed against her former students. Hopefully it'll still all end up in the book! (Complete with thinly-veiled Gawker, if we're lucky.) Venkatesan is now a research assistant at Northwestern, btw. [Dartlog]
books
Keith Gessen Defended by Former n+1 Helper
Oh noes! Someone at the Spectator, Columbia University's student paper, wrote a negative review of literary mag n+1 editor Keith Gessen's novel, All the Sad Young Literary Men. Now another Columbia kid, Mark Krotov, is coming to the rescue! Wait for the disclosure: "I have done a little work for Gessen and his magazine, which has a very low circulation rate." NEG! Is it just us, or is Keith's entire world very incest-y?More »
lawsuits
Ivy League Prof Sues Students For Being Mean to Her
A Dartmouth lecturer is suing her class for discrimination, as she revealed in a series of regrettable and bizarre emails that promptly ended up all over Dartmouth blogs. Priya Venkatesan (Dartmouth '90, MS in Genetics, PhD in literature) emailed members of her Winter '08 Writing 5 class Saturday night to announce her intention to seek damages from them for their being mean to her. The email, and so, so much more, below: More »
Yet Another Disturbed Ivy Leaguer
This week's f-ing crazy Ivy Leaguer is from Princeton. (Finally, someone taking the heat off Yale!) A frosh, previously kicked out of school, has been charged with "kidnapping, aggravated assault, endangerment of an injured victim and making terroristic threats." Specifically, he beat up his pregnant ex-girlfriend, although without using his hands: "'he is a pianist' and did not want to injure his fingers." [Daily Princetonian]
This week's f-ing crazy Ivy Leaguer is from Princeton. (Finally, someone taking the heat off Yale!) A frosh, previously kicked out of school, has been charged with "kidnapping, aggravated assault, endangerment of an injured victim and making terroristic threats." Specifically, he beat up his pregnant ex-girlfriend, although without using his hands: "'he is a pianist' and did not want to injure his fingers." [Daily Princetonian]
shut up, college
Weirdest Grossest Abortion Art Project Ever
For every genius the Ivy League cranks out, there are a few duds. Reports the Yale Daily News, art major Aliza Shvarts artificially inseminated herself "'as often as possible' while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood..." Sounds awful! Plus: we were not aware that one could auto-artificially-inseminate outside a clinical setting. But we must all try to be sophisticated: what is the statement? Oh, she wants to "spark conversation" about art, the human body, etc. Mission accomplished! Consider the conversation officially sparked. [Yale Daily News]
how things work
Because Diamonds, Like MBAs, Are Forever
We always had a feeling that the ruling class had little workshops that they kept from the proles: which forks to use, how to keep your hair shiny and blonde, etc. "Secrets about islands, about horses, about French pronunciation," as Jay McInerney wrote. Well, they do! Harvard Business School's Luxury Goods Club will teach you how to purchase your first diamond. More »
scandal
The Facebook Wall of Yale Imposter and Smitten Gay Lover
Akash Maharaj faked his way into Yale and was ultimately brought down by his vindictive Latin lover, Skull and Bones member Victor Cazares. Theirs was a torrid affair, we can only assume, filled with explosive fights and banal Facebook Wall postings, IvyGate reports. These Facebook Wall notes are notable both in their level of obsession, and as a window into the minds and unique courting rituals of the MySpace Generation. "Wait. if you're 'studying with victor,' why aren't you here?"More »
urban anthropology
Let's Take Over the Private Fancy Clubs!
There are lots of membership-only oak-paneled private clubs in this city, former Gawker Joshua Stein reports in Page Six magazine. And you're probably not a member! But why not? There's been a thinning of the (dues-paying) herd lately: the olds who run and populate the places are "dying off." In order to attract youngs, they're going absolutely wild: "relaxing dress codes, holding mixers, staying open past 10 pm." Sounds stuffy, but... how would you like the cushy surroundings of your very own private club? More »
The Blogosphere
How You Fanned the Flames of Ivy Fraud Fallout
Sure, Akash Maharaj—the 26-year-old Trinidad-and-Tobagonian who lied his way into Yale and was snitched out by his jilted ex-boyfriend—is only the latest in a long line of fraudy fraudsters to bamboozle the Ivy League institution. But the big deal? He's the first one to do it in the Internet Age. Now it's a big, stinking pile of mess, and Yale blames you! More »
ultimate guide
