<p>Simply, just a student who wants her all-female college to be precisely what she intended }}</p>
<p>It will be interesting to look at the rankings in Aug. I wonder if other college presidents are taking much stock in this and might lower their peer review. I doubt it.</p>
<p>If you read the following posts on the Jolt, I guess there are many students who want to change the constitution back to how it read before the change. Interestingly, as well, is that there are alumna posting about this issue on the Jolt too. They are horrified by the changes made by the college, and the money spent towards this group of women. Smith better be careful and tread very lightly going ahead; they have much more to lose than a few women who want to be men, and then expect the college to change for them. They've gone overboard on this one!</p>
<p>is that there are alumna posting about this issue on the Jolt too.}}}</p>
<p>You should hear what some alumna are saying after a glass of wine or three. It's amazing the 4 letter words they learned at Smith--lol</p>
<p>This is too funny. Leave it to a Smithie to think of this.</p>
<p>"Okay, I'm not looking to offend anyone, I'm just trying to understand something. I was just wondering how you'll deal with employers who note your sex as male but notice that you went to an all-women's college. Yes, I understand you'll probably be working in a tolerant environment, but it still seems like the descrepancy between your sex and where you went to school will force you into unnecessary explanations about your personal life that you shouldn't really need to explain.</p>
<p>Does this make sense?"</p>
<p>N.B., you must have been born female to be admitted to Smith.
Also, RLT, "transvestite" is a matter of dress, not physiology.</p>
<p>And, finally, this is probably the totally un-PC place to pose the question:</p>
<p>Q. What do you call the female-to-male sex-change operation?</p>
<p>A. An addadictomy.</p>
<p>Also, RLT, "transvestite" is a matter of dress, not physiology.}}</p>
<p>Details. It was a joke :)</p>
<p><<yes, smith="" does="" lose="" a="" lot="" of="" apps="" and="" alum="" support="" because="" lightning="" rod="" issues="" like="" this.="">></yes,></p>
<p>Wrong. My friend in the admissions told me that this year's applications broke last year's record and internationals are up 17%. Go figure with the high schoolers.</p>
<p>OTOH- I do believe that Smith still continues to lose some donation each year and each time it <em>takes away</em> something that made Smith very special to them ages ago.</p>
<p>{{My friend in the admissions told me that this year's applications broke last year's record and internationals are up 17%. Go figure with the high schoolers.}}</p>
<p>How do you know they wouldn't have been up 25 % without the issues? Do you speak to kids in high schools?
I do.
Even if the numbers are up, how many top students don't matriculate because of the controversy? Top students have choices.</p>
<p>You transferred because you found the college too extreme. Why would you not believe high school students would decide not to apply for the same reason?</p>
<p>Having said that, Smith offers opportunities and connections very few, if any, LAC can come close to matching. The alumnae network for Smith women is unsurpassed in the cooperate and political sphere.</p>
<p>thedad,</p>
<p>actually, you don't have to be born female to go to smith (not even including the grad programs, which are completely co-ed). </p>
<p>you just have to be legally/medically female, and therefore could have been born a man then undergone reassignment surgery. chances are, by the time this happens you'd be old enough to be an Ada. And since smith doesn't ask "what gender were you born?" it's not impossible that male-born students have already attended/graduated from Smith.</p>
<p>Stacy, thank you for the correction.</p>
<p>This came up before and someone at Smith, not a student, gave what seemed a definitive answer. I'd have to think about it but at first reaction, I don't have a problem with someone who has gone male---->female, complete with reassignment, attending Smith.
As you say, they'd be Ada's.</p>
<p>TMP, applications at most colleges are up. Wesleyan is up 5 percent, Northwestern 12 percent. It's a question of by how much.</p>
<p>it's not impossible that male-born students have already attended/graduated from Smith.}}}</p>
<p>Thanks for that info. Stacy. I'm having horrible flashbacks to some the Smithies I dated. Gawd, could have I? Some were certainly suspect, but than again I was buzzed.</p>
<p><em>LOL</em> RLT, <em>LOL</em></p>
<p>
[quote]
...Smith offers opportunities and connections very few, if any, LAC can come close to matching. The alumnae network for Smith women is unsurpassed in the cooperate and political sphere.
[/quote]
Agreed wholeheartedly. OTOH, that is just what I'm afraid that Smith has to lose if they keep doing what they're doing with the transexuals. Smith alumnae are ever-reaching, and usually always willing to help other Smithies. If they become discontent with the direction that Smith is going into, it could inevitably hurt current Smithies; and the endowment could take a big hit as well. I wonder what President Christ has to say about all this?</p>
<p>}}Smith alumnae are ever-reaching, and usually always willing to help other Smithies. If they become discontent with the direction that Smith is going into, it could inevitably hurt current Smithies}}</p>
<p>Dont ever worry about that. Alumnae might get upset at the college, but they would never hold it against any student or alumnae if asked for help or they were applying for a job/internship in a corporation or DC</p>
<p>That's good to hear; and quite honestly, what I needed to hear. This whole tranny thing has a lot of panties in a bunch, if you know what I mean.</p>
<p><long whistle="" and="" yellow="" flag!=""> Illegal use of metaphor. Ten yards and loss of keyboard. Second down.</long></p>
<p>
[quote]
READ BEFORE POSTING IN THE FORUM
Due to the contentious debates in our forum and inappropriate posting, we are now asking posters to use their Jolt screename, OR sign the post with their FULL NAME on controversial issues. Such as posts on transgender issues on campus and AWARE's clothesline campaign.
If you use "guest name" or don't sign your name, your post will be DELETED.
If you feel that you need to be heard, and want to contribute to civil discourse then you should not have a problem standing behind your words. Please try to be respectful and do not abuse the Forum. Thank you.
[/quote]
This ought to bring out the best of the Jolt regulars. <em>LOL</em> 1st amendment, stand back!</p>
<p>An exchange I had offline with someone reminded me that I had written up trip reports of colleges we visited during D's junior year. Following is the report for Smith. Interesting to see how it stands up nearly three years later.</p>
<p>====
By Thedad (Thedad) on Tuesday, April 29, 2003 - 03:10 am: Edit</p>
<p>SMITH Monday, April 14 through Tuesday, April 15, 2003</p>
<p>The tightest timing of the trip was getting from Harvards tour ending around 12:30 to Northampton, where D had arranged to take a ballet class beginning at 2:40. Given a missed turn on campus and then problematic parking, she made the class with about two minutes to spare. Themom and I got to our hotel [the Autumn Inn] and checked in and then came back and briefly wandered around campus while she took the class and got back about ten minutes before class; I peered in and got the why are you watching me, go away glare. Eventually she came out; the ballet teacher had another appointment and we arranged for a tour of the Dance facilities and to chat the following day. D said that there was a wider range of bodies than at her home studio and that some of the dancers were very good; many dancers were stronger than she was but she was probably the most flexible dancer on the floor.</p>
<p>My sense was that she was a little underwhelmed by the class; I think she expected to be blown away by a top-level college class and wasnt. Also, the floor felt funny to her...it was marley laid down over hardwood former basketball court...and it didnt feel like the sprung floor shes used to and it caused her to be tentative on her jumps. I think the concern about the floor has faded over time: both the teacher and another dancer she talked to said there were no injuries (such as shin splints, tendonitis) attributable to the floor and others have pointed out that no one would risk injuries to basketball players, who also do a lot of running and jumping. If the concern about the floor has faded, the concern about the teaching hasnt. The teacher has a Masters in Dance but a very light professional resume and I think the lack of professional experience and artistic direction is a concern for her.</p>
<p>My own takeespecially in light of the great ballet experience she had at Barnard (see future post)is that she needs to decide whether shes taking ballet while going to school or going to school while pursuing ballet.</p>
<p>We went back to the hotel to kick back for just a few minutes and then dropped D off at the Franklin King House (Smith living arrangements are called Houses, some of them literally so) where she had arranged to spend an overnight visit with a hostess she had met at the Smith College Preview Party back in January. Anne and I had the great good fortune to have been invited to have dinner with a husband and wife who both were former admissions officers at Smith. It was very pleasant, both professionally and socially. We had hors doeuvres in their house, which was built in 1895, and then got a chance to see downtown Northampton, which is quaint andmost importantlybig enough for D, whos a city kid through and through. The professional opinion was that D was a good fit with Smith and should be a very strong candidate for admissions. The admissions officerswho are not blind Smith partisans but were good at talking about pros and conspointed out that because Smith was a womens college, it provided great educational bang for the buck; with a significant percentage of high school girls giving a pass to an womens college, it was easier to get into than a comparable co-ed school.</p>
<p>D said the overnight was a lot of fun. She walked with several girls into Northamptona four to six block walkand got ice cream from one of the two places in town that had made some list of Top 10 Ice Cream Parlors in the whole country a couple of years back. They also watched a DVD movie and just hung out.</p>
<p>We met D the next morning at 9:30 at the Admissions office where we rendezvoused with Megan, a Smith student and also a ballet dancer, the daughter of someone I met on-line and who was kind enough to set up an e-mail link between us. Megan said she liked one of the other ballet teachers better and there seemed to be a good click between her and D; Megan is also a tour guide [she had a 10:00 tour] and was a very positive source for non-dance opinions as well.</p>
<p>We then had our info session at 10:00 and the admissions officer said something about how large the group was...I had to laugh...seven prospective students plus associated parents, quite a contrast to the cattle call at Harvard (and, later, Yale & Columbia).</p>
<p>There werent a lot of surprises...we had researched Smith pretty thoroughly before hand. Smith is a member of the Five College Consortium that also includes Amherst, Hampshire, and Mount Holyoke colleges as well as University of Massachusetts. After the first term, students may cross register for courses at any of the other four schools. A free shuttle bus provides transportation between campuses. Smith is an all womens college, which initially was not on Ds list of criteria, but after talking to students at the College Preview party, she became a believer in the merits of a womens school. The former admissions officers had told us that D would have to make more of a conscious effort to meet guys, both socially and romantically, by doing such things as taking one class a term at one of the other colleges in the consortium or by taking classes downtown.</p>
<p>Most important factors in admissions are grades, strength of schedule, essay, and teacher recommendations. There academic calendar is the semester with a one-month J (for January) term in between where students take advantage of a wide range of educational opportunities in a single class (some have been known to just spend the extra time at home...what a waste). More than 82 percent of Smith grads go on to graduate school...a fairly impressive statistic.</p>
<p>Many classes are seminars and will meet even if they have only 3-4 students, a high plus for D, who shines in class discussion. D decided that Fencing sounded interesting and that she might give Modern Dance a try.</p>
<p>Smith is the only college that D is considering in the Northeast with an established Washington semester, of great interest to the potential political science major. As a former intern myself, I know the fact that the program is well-established is of benefit in terms of process, contacts, placement, housing, etc.</p>
<p>Admissions applications will be available in September or October.</p>
<p>Our small gaggle then went on a tour with two tour guides...I found out later that normally they have one tour guide per family, this being an exception due to the crowd present for Spring break. This propensity for individual attention was marked throughout our entire Smith experience; Ive noted one highlight below.</p>
<p>The Smith campus is gorgeous. Built alongside a large pondqualifies as a lake in my bookand lots of buildings from the 1890's intermingled with newer buildings around the campus. A new student center is under construction and should be operating by next Fall. Residential living: some of the newest houses are located on the Quad and were built in the 1920's...lots of large singles predominate. The Quad is the most social (read: parties) part of campus, with keg parties designed to draw students, particularly males, from the other schools of the Five College Consortium.</p>
<p>But D prefers the houses along Green Street in the center of campus. They have a lot more charm and are more central for classes and dance, orchestra, etc. Both tour guides were enthusiastic champions for their own House...indeed, every student we met had an enthusiastic attachment to their House. On the tour, we saw Tyler House on Green St., a converted four-story mansion that was very nice...I see why students tell Princeton Review that dorms are like palaces.</p>
<p>Smith Houses have traditions, like Thursday night candlelight dinners and Friday afternoon tea that D adores.</p>
<p>During the tour, we saw the Rare Books collection of the library, which undergraduate students are allowed to use. This in and of itself is special. But there was an elderly retired English professor with a British accent doing research there and he talked to the students for a few moments, answering questions. Ds heart melted...it was love at first sight...he was just as if he had walked off the cast of Masterpiece Theater.</p>
<p>Had to split this into two. CC now has a 10K-character limit on posts.</p>
<p>====</p>
<p>We split off from the end of the tour and had the meeting with Rodger Blum, the head of the dance department, who gave us a tour of the facilities. My, theyre gorgeous. Modern dance classes are held on the second floor of the boathouse overlooking the lake...just gorgeous. The performing spaces were all quite nice and the overall word for the facilities is...dazzling.</p>
<p>Now for one of what I found to be one of the most astonishing episodes on the whole trip. D had made an appointment to chat briefly with Jonathan Hirsch, the director of the orchestra. She already knew that she wouldnt have to be a music major to play in the orchestra, the first bridge to cross. They talked about the horn section, the kind of music D played, the kinds of pieces the Smith orchestra was working on, etc. Jonathan turned and asked us when we were leaving Smith. When we said the following morning, he turned to D and said, You know, were having a rehearsal this evening. Theres a break at about 8:30 and then well be rehearsing the Tchaikovsky piece, which has a lot of horn music. If youd like, why dont you come to rehearsal and sit on stage with the horn section.</p>
<p>We did, she did, and she loved it, spending an hour and a half on stage, talking to the horn players. This in stark contrast to the orchestra director for Columbia who e-mailed back, Get admitted, come to the audition, and then we can talk.</p>
<p>Ive got to say, it wasnt just the orchestra director, it was virtually every single encounter at Smith that was beyond what would be normal. As with Dance, the Music facilities were outstanding.</p>
<p>After meeting with Jonathan Hirsch, we stopped by the college store. I purchased a Smith sweatshirt for a friend, one of the ballet moms at the studio who is a Smith alumna. D also purchased a sweatshirt for herself...the only garment she purchased at any store on the trip.</p>
<p>Next, D had a 2:00pm interview set up with an Admissions officer. D talked about ballet, various high school classes, and why D was interested in Smith. The officer asked D, If your application could speak, what would you want it to say? D replied tht she was a quirky, interesting bright person who would bring a lot to campus.</p>
<p>No discussion of Smith is complete for prospective parents without talking about the lesbian thing. As with many womens colleges, a high percentage of the students are lesbian; for Smith, a good estimate is 30 percent. We live in Santa Monica and the proximity to Hollywood makes this a very gay-tolerant environment anyway, so this is no problem. The operative questions for us were: Are straight students looked down upon or hassled for being straight? and Is there unwelcome pressure to become gay? The answer to all these questions is no and the answer was consistent from the administration, current students, andfrom my view, most importantlyparents of current students. We did see some public displays of affection...so what. But Smith will not be a good fit for students who arent open-minded and tolerant.</p>
<p>As you can tell, I liked Smith a lot and so did D.</p>
<h1>#</h1>
<p>TD...Sounds like the same Smith we saw on our tour and interview visits. We (read me) were also impressed by the athletic facilities and work out area, pool, tennis courts, etc. What a great setting for a young woman (or dad) to work out in; and I would kill for one of those treadmills with a t.v set built in! O.k., enough about me!</p>