<p>Never knew how good of a President we have:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/schools/simmons.asp[/url]”>http://www.ivyleaguesports.com/schools/simmons.asp</a></p>
<p>ruth is great
this bio leaves out her humble beginnings...that she was the daughter of sharecroppers, one of many siblings from a very poor family, etc.</p>
<p>it also leaves out that time magazine named her educator of the year and that this year she was given the eleanor roosevelt val-kill medal</p>
<p>She seems great...</p>
<p>I also thought Vartan was a great president. I read his autobiography, and it was an amazing story.</p>
<p>love the curret prez</p>
<p>vartain's my role model( I being armenian as well)</p>
<p>The Time article:</p>
<p>Vartan really is an amazing man. I have read his book, and have spoken with him a few times.</p>
<p>wow. ruth simmons seems wonderful.</p>
<p>on the topic of ruth simmons i'd like to add to her resume almost a dozen honorary doctorate degrees (harvard, princeton, amherst, dartmouth, columbia, upenn, GW, NYU, BU, etc.)
also the fulbright lifetime achievement award (usually given to political dignitaries and such, most recently colin powell), harvard's centennial medal ...</p>
<p>and top of it all, she comes across as very humble and is so willing to engage with students</p>
<p>we're really lucky to have her. the departure of gordon gee was a blessing in disguise</p>
<p>how do all of you guys know vartan gregorian? that was a long time ago now...</p>
<p>Vartan's legacy was not all positive.</p>
<p>Good god, Byerly, are you for real?</p>
<p>the now infamous vanity fair article was completely discredited do to horde of gross inaccuracies--not only was an apology issued from the magazine but harvard, yale, and princeton (other ivies mentioned in the article) all issued official statements denoucning the article.</p>
<p>it was clearly a sensationalized tabloid piece and the dart review editorial is equally incendiary. that this editorial supports it while taking cheap shots at brown only demonstrates that some cranky student needed a catharsis for a lifetime of insecurity</p>
<p>judging, from the vast majority of your posts, you should be able to relate</p>
<p>Ruth is really chill. My friends and I were walking back from the Harvard-Brown football game last fall and we saw her stopped at the corner so we waved excitedly and she was smiling and waving back.</p>
<p>I have great respect for Simmons, who seems to be off to a good start, but you will psrdon me if I have less positive to say about her immediate predecessors, the self-serving Gee and the quirky Vartan. </p>
<p>The 10 years preceding Simmons hiring saw a steady erosion in Brown's reputation - as revealed in its USNews standing (which declined, I believe for 7 consecutive years) and - importantly - its peer reputation contained in the USNews ranking. </p>
<p>Vartan's regime (with all the no grades stuff) caused a certain type of student to apply in greater numbers, and Brown's reputation suffered a bit in consequence.</p>
<p>As I say, Simmons seems to be turning things around.</p>
<p>Byerly...no.</p>
<p>Brown's ranking rose steadily during Vartan Gregorian's presidency (not "regime"--Brown isn't a totalitarian state) to 8th in 1997 according to USNWR. <a href="http://thecenter.ufl.edu/usnewsranking.xls%5B/url%5D">http://thecenter.ufl.edu/usnewsranking.xls</a></p>
<p>During his time at Brown, the University's popularity soared. There were so many applicants that in the late 90's Brown's acceptance rate was significantly lower than Yale's. Brown was everywhere, infused in pop culture, from movies (As Good as it Gets, Outside Providence, Varsity Blues) to books (A Hope in the Unseen).</p>
<p>Vartan recruited some of Brown's most eminent faculty (Carlos Fuentes for instance), doubled the endowment, and significantly enhanced academic opportunities.</p>
<p>Also, the S/NC (pass/fail) option in courses is a choice students are allowed to make in order to have more freedom over the design of their curriculum. It is often used to take advanced courses outside of your concentration or to add a fifth class. Incidentally, MIT made their entire freshman year mandatory pass/fail during this same time. The reputation of both institutions remain unmarred as a result. You are uninformed and full of crap.</p>
<p>... but Gregorian's legacy was one of decline and near financial crisis after he tried to do it with smoke, mirrors, flash - and no cash - before finally giving up and moving to a lucrative foundation sinecure. When Gee came in after him, that savvy guy got one look at the books and slipped out of Providence just as soon as he could find a bigger salary and smaller challenge at Vanderbilt (where, like Brown, they'd also agree to put his wife on the payroll for big bucks.)</p>
<p>USNews rankings for Brown:</p>
<p>1997: #8
1998: #9
1999: #10
2000: #14
2001: #15
2002: #16
2003: #17
2004: #17</p>
<p>Only in the 2005 edition of USNews does the trend reverse for Brown, with Simmons now clearly in charge, as the USNews ranking moving up to #13, and the academic reputation, which had dropped from 4.6 to 4.4. moving back to 4.5.</p>
<p>Byerly... you have no idea what your talking about, and that article is a bunch or horse crap.</p>
<p>The decline in USNews ranking is cause for concern, though, and oddly enough it's heading in a positive direction now that there is a new president.</p>
<p>Byerly, you're so much fun. I picture you as one of the old men in the balcony on the muppet show. </p>
<p>As someone who works closely with the provost of the university, I've seen all of Brown's numbers, past, present, and projections. The fall in the rankings is because Brown had a two year president (Gee) whose "savvy" led him to abandon the ideals of higher education. He chose a more lucrative position in an act that was publically condemned by several members of the academy as irresponsible...
(sort of the way President Summer's "god"-like status led him to abandon the ideals of higher education, and say women are less capable scientists than men--an act that was pubically condemned by several members of the academy as irresponsible).
You're shooting 0 for 2, here Byerly.</p>
<p>Two years of Gee was followed by one year of an interim president. Three years without coherent direction and leadership is difficult for a University. This is what led to a transient decline in the rankings, which is now bouncing back under the excellent stewardship of Ruth Simmons.</p>
<p>By the way, Gregorian more than doubled the endowment in less than 8 years. What financial crisis are you referring to? I challenge you to produce one of your infamous links. It certainly isn't one that anyone in the administration or the University Resources Committee I serve on is aware of.</p>
<p>Whats this, "dcircle"? The old "best defense" is a good offense ploy"?</p>
<p>Or as the senior partner once told me: </p>
<p>"Son, if you can't deny the allegation, then beat the hell out of the allegator!"</p>
<p>Virtually every college endowment in America "more than doubled" during that era, so no bragging points to be won there, compadre.</p>
<p>What Brown was never able to do (and still isn't) was to climb out of the cellar with respect to alumni contributions, where they chronically trail the Ivy field by a wide margin. (Would a link be helpful?)</p>
<p>Very wisely, Simmons cleaned house in this area, brought in a hand or two from successful programs at Princeton and Harvard, and may get things moving in the right direction. For years Brown has been letting its $1,000 givers get away with giving $25.</p>
<p>One more time:</p>
<p>Bylerly, I challenge to prove in any way, shape, or form that Vartan Gregorian's legacy to Brown was a financial crisis.</p>
<p>I you succeed, I appologize for accusing you of making things up.</p>
<p>If you do not, we'll all consider your apology for posting inflammatory and unsubstantiated claims about every school on these forums except Harvard.</p>
<p>Byely... you really don't know what you are talking about. Here is an exerpt from the term paper I wrote on Dr. Gregorian. He is a specatular man, and did a lot for the University.</p>
<p>After a brief hiatus at the New York City Public Library, Vartan continued his career in university administration when he was asked to be the sixteenth president of Brown University. Returning to the world of education, Vartan quickly adjusted to the tasks and duties of being the president of an Ivy-League school. In a speech to the board of trustees, Vartan said, We ought to realize that a lopsided education is both deficient and dangerous, that we need a proper balance between the preparation of careers and the cultivation of values. It was Vartans emphasis on combining the preparation of careers and the cultivation of values, which brought Brown into a new era of reform. Vartan put immense importance on the undergraduate system, emphasizing that an exceptional university must have its foundation in an excellent undergraduate program. Realizing that Brown had the lowest endowment of any Ivy-League university, Vartan instituted the Campaign for the Rising Generation. The goal for the five-year long campaign was 450 million, which was an almost astronomical figure at that time. It was the most ambitious capital campaign, not only in Browns history but of the state of Rhode Island as well. Nevertheless, Vartans constant effort in the fundraising process not only led them to complete the goal, but to surpass it by $84 million dollars. Upon his resignation in 1997, the Brown endowment had grown by 260 percent to $1.05 billion from just under $400 million, placing the per-student endowment of Brown ahead of U Penn and Cornell. Thomas J. Watson Jr., University Professor of Technology and Education at Brown, said Vartan has made a hot college even hotter. And in fund raising, I thought I was a hard worker, but there are very few people alive who could run the schedule he has run.</p>