<p>Well, DW and S are back with their impressions of R-MC after the open house. They were both impressed with the emphasis the school puts on a personal connection between faculty and students. It was stressed in several different contexts, and it seemed very sincere. The tour group they were in ran across a few professors who, on their own initiative, stopped to chat. The campus was generally quite attractive -- with older buildings there's always going to be the problem of keeping them up to date, but they were clean and well-maintained. Unfortunately, several of the building, particularly "down campus" were from the hideous late '50s to mid 60's school of architecture. </p>
<p>Greek life is quite obviously important, but no greek vs. independent vibes were picked up. Most greek events were open to all, and the houses themselves looked well-maintained. The crime report in the student newspaper looked pretty normal for a school that is surrounded by a city (even a suburb like Ashland). Twenty incidents between 11/9 and 11/16, mostly theft, suspicious person, one fight, trespass and one "students on roof". I have no idea. </p>
<p>The paper did have a front page story on two students who were robbed at gunpoint walking back from a club. Visits by my S seem to have this effect. On a trip to JMU last March, the front page story was an attempted murderer caught in the JMU parking lot. IN any event, the story contained this quote: "This incident is the latest in what seems to be an increase in crime committed by individuals unaffiliated with the college on or near campus since last spring. These incidents include an attempted abduction April 7, an attempted sexual assault Sept. 2 and several vehicle break-ins this semester. </p>
<p>Coincidentally, the paper had a letter to the editor that seemed to confirm that R-MC could do a better job in seeing that people get their classes. In this case, a Senior was complaining that his last required class was cancelled. In the letter he also mentioned that he has "tolerated not being in my first or second choice classes as a freshman or a sophomore". </p>
<p>Community service was nice to see. As an adjunct to the recent RMC versus Hampden-Sydney "big game" there is a week of non-athletic competitions to benefit the Children's Miracle Network. Despite losing the football game, RMC recaptured the overall Cup by "winning" the debate competion, the blood drive, the alumni golf tournament and the field goal kick. All in all, $372K+ was raised for Children's Miracle Network. Big kudos to both RMC and HSC for doing this. </p>
<p>Downsides: Pretty dead on weekends. Both W and S said the campus was empty at 11:00, and the dining hall had maybe 5 people in it at 12:30. Maybe a lot of people left early for Thanksgiving, but it gave a strong suitcase school appearance. Neither the library nor the recreation center were open when the tour came by, which seems like bad planning to me. Biggest concern, and this is something that both W and S really noticed -- for all the emphasis on teacher/student connections, there wasn't a focus on student/student interaction. And no student, not one, stopped and chatted with the tour, or even said "hey" to the tour guide, or even appeared to be talking to one another. The may have been a completely freak occurrence, but neither wife nor son got a friendly feeling from the students. Not unfriendly, but definitely not friendly. </p>
<p>Bottom line, for all of the details, the question always comes down to "can you see yourself here"? For R-MC it appears that my son will answer "No". I know people who's kids were very happy to attend, and I think it's a fine school, and the faculty/student thing is very positve. But I have to trust his instincts on where he'll be spending 4 years.</p>