Beyond “we’re small”
Some years ago, I was a faculty member at a small liberal arts college. It was my feeling that a lot of exciting things were happening at the college: faculty doing cutting-edge research, departments offering creative programs and majors, sports teams winning championships, and fancy new facilities being built. Something that always struck me as odd was the way our college president spoke about students and graduates of our college. "Whenever you meet a graduate of our college," she'd say, "you just know you're talking to somebody from our college. There's just something about them. You can't explain it. You can't define it. You just know it. There's just something about that *x* college spirit."
I always thought this was a peculiar way of talking about our college. Really, you can't define what makes our graduates special? You can't think of any qualities or descriptors? Couldn't you ask someone in your English department for some words?
What's funny is that I hear this kind of thing all the time during college tours. Putting myself in the shoes of a prospective student or parent, I experience this type of language as a kind of red flag. The same goes for comments such as "our small size means we have a tight-knit community." You don't say?
When I visit colleges and universities, I want to know what makes that institution—and its graduates—stand out. At College of the Atlantic, for example, every student designs their own course of study in human ecology. Goucher College has a major emphasis on international studies and requires every student to study abroad. Mesalands Community College has the only college degree program (that I know of) in farrier science. A team from Auburn University won the 2023 college championship in bass fishing. I encourage prospective students and their families to look for these unique aspects of a college's identity that make it special, and that would make it an exciting and welcoming place to live and learn.
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