Northwestern & U of C's almost merger

<p>I saw this on the NW thread and thought it might be interesting to readers here: <a href="http://www.northwestern.edu/features/historic_moments/04_05_01_merger.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.northwestern.edu/features/historic_moments/04_05_01_merger.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>omg! thanks for that post.</p>

<p>wow, that's an awesome story, thanks D:</p>

<p>it's like reading one of those alternate-history novels where Hitler wins</p>

<p>interesting..</p>

<p>I found the article to be a little egocentric. The article, which was presumably written by someone in the Northwestern community, paints it such that Northwestern was the one who backed out of the deal, and UChicago would have willing gone along with it. It's written as if Northwestern was somehow perserving its own cultural superiority by backing out of the deal.
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Not long after, opposition within the Northwestern community began to swell. Alumni feared the loss of traditional associations and loyalties, as well as the Northwestern name itself -- an early proposal called for the name The Universities of Chicago.

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<p>
[quote]
"The more I studied the merger, the more desirable I found it to be," he wrote. "It is a great regret to me that conditions were such that it could not become a reality. In my judgment the merger will become a reality at some future date.

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<p>Ha! That goes to show you how hard it is to predict the future. This presumably intelligent and well-written man made a prediction which has not and, I doubt, will ever come true. Certainly not anytime in the near future.</p>

<p>hehe i've heard of this story. i kind of wish it happened...my ideal school would be uchicago, except with northwestern's campus and location. (nu is very close to where part of my family lives!)</p>

<p>It wouldn't work at all. Grad (non-professional) in Hyde Park and undergrad in Evanston? You can't split the two.</p>

<p>I agree... the graduate program at UChicago has such a positive and significant impact on its undergrads that it'd be a shame to separate them both.</p>

<p>I was actually thinking more about the logistics. No faculty member would be willing to travel back and fro between two places that are 20 miles apart.</p>

<p>aww, im in love with both schools, it would've been nice if they actually did merge :( two of the best schools in the mid-west! although IMO i think the name northwestern is slightly more appealing than U of chicago.</p>

<p>I kind of doubt that. What about Northwestern University in Chicago? Blah... that's even worse.</p>

<p>"NUC." thats not exactly the most desirable name :P
actually come to think of it i simply don't see the two schools together. there's that preppy feel to NU students and a quarky feel to Chicago students.</p>

<p>For a minute there, I thought it was some sort of joke. But interesting proposal (especially given the time frame).</p>