<p>vicarious: >>> JL50ish: LOL about the Yankees visiting Vandy as a ‘back-up’! </p>
<p>I have to say, though, Vanderbilt should stop marketing itself as the “Harvard of the South”. I know one person who was being recruited at Vanderbilt and she was really put off by those kinds of statements that she heard on her trip. <<<<</p>
<p>Seriously… these families told me that Vandy and Duke were going to be their “safety” schools in case Junior or Buffy didn’t get into HYP. And the kids truly acted as though they were “slumming” throughout the visit. </p>
<p>Actually, I find the tradition that exists at many of the older southern schools to be very interesting. Some of the schools are actual sites of Civil War battles. UA tells a very charming story about the wife of the then university president who stopped the Northern soldiers from burning down the “president’s mansion” after they had already burned down a few of the school’s buildings (some of the antebellum buildings still remain.) The Northern soldiers had gathered all the mansion’s furniture together to start a fire on the first floor. She scolded them and made them put all the furniture back where it belonged. After the soldiers put everything back, they agreed to protect the mansion until the war ended. She thanked them by serving them lemonade and cookies. Now, that is southern hospitality. :)</p>
<p>I didn’t realize that Vandy marketed itself like that. I do know that Sewanee tends to market itself as the Oxford of the South (which amuses me).</p>