Brown and Wesleyan are often mentioned together; they both occupy a kind of maverick status within their respective athletic leagues (Ivy and NESCAC) that probably derives from their liberal (by New England standards) Protestant founders. Both were severely effected by the Civil War which caused major schisms within their churches that, in turn, propelled both colleges toward greater secularism. Brown’s first non-Baptist president was a Wesleyan graduate. Both were early adaptors of curricular reform in the 1960s. Both were early proponents of affirmative action. Wesleyan is generally considered the LAC that comes closest in feel to a university while Dartmouth and Brown are the Ivy League universities that come closest to feeling like LACs. Even the campuses have a vague, eclectic, similarity:
http://alumni.brown.edu/clubs/rmbc/images/clip_image002_000.jpg
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