<p>Duke and Emory's religious ties to UMC weren't tenuous enough to prevent major friction around the use of both campus chapels to host gay weddings in recent years.</p>
<p>And as for not guessing at a posters "cryptic" message -- it's a little late for that, don't you think? ;)</p>
<p>I thought the poster was implying that UMC colleges are religious ones, hence they shouldn't be ranked by "prestige." I also that , one, he was mistaken that these were, on the whole, religious colleges, introducing Duke as a counter-example though it is still affiliated, and two, he was conflating the previous posters discussion of "national reputation" with "prestige" which don't seem to me to be exactly the same, or at least their intent isn't the same.</p>
<p>Conflating national reputation with prestige seems pretty logical to me.</p>
<p>I think they're not exactlly the same--reputation is about the perception of the quality of a place, while prestige is about what I get from the what other people think about a place--I'm not explaining well, but I do see a difference.</p>
<p>Hillsdale College and Liberty University have national reputations but not necessarily prestige amongst a large segment of the population. Meanwhile in another large segment of the population Wesleyan and Oberlin have national reputations but not everyone thinks highly of the soundness of the education their graduates, receive Michelle Malkin possibly excepted. I think I grasp garlands distinction between reputation and prestige.</p>
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<p>Hillsdale College and Liberty University have national reputations<</p>
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<p>In what sense?</p>
<p>In the sense that most educated well read people have heard of them and know what they represent. Whether they consider s degree from the institution prestigious is another matter. Some will and some won't. By the same token most have heard of Oberlin and Wesleyan but whether they think highly of their graduates is perhaps a different story. Some will and some won't. Thus prestige is different from reputation.</p>
<p>In another context the mafis, MS13, and the Crips all have national reputations but membership does not necessarily convey prestige.</p>
<p>That's actually kind've the opposite of what I meant :)!</p>
<p>how many people does it take to figure out the difference between prestige and reputation...isn't that what a dictionary is for. :-)</p>
<p>reputation \rep-yew-'ta-shun\ n 1. the fact of being highly esteemed
[Webster's New Collegiate-Merriam Webster Dictionary]</p>
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<p>In another context the mafis, MS13, and the Crips all have national reputations but membership does not necessarily convey prestige.<</p>
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<p>You obviously don't live in certain parts of Durham, North Carolina. ;)</p>
<p>No, thank god. I just go to Ohio Wesleyan. lol.</p>
<p>Thesaurus has "reputation" and "prestige" listed as synonyms with no subtleties of semantics involved there. So, enough said about that part. </p>
<p>If a college is prestigious, then it is reputable and so it goes for its contrapositive: If it is reputable, then it has to be prestigious.</p>
<p>And to whoever suggested some semantic equivalence of membership and reputation to prolong this discussion more than needed: better luck next time.</p>
<p>Well now I just consulted askoxford.com and they define reputation as:</p>
<p>reputation</p>
<p> noun 1 the beliefs or opinions that are generally held about someone or something. 2 a widespread belief that someone or something has a particular characteristic: his reputation as a brainless lad.</p>
<p>And prestige as:</p>
<p>prestige</p>
<p> noun respect and admiration attracted through a perception of high achievements or quality. </p>
<p>That doesn't sound like there is no distinction to be made there. But I will defer to whomever because this is not the hill on which I choose to die.</p>
<p>CatotheCensor, what's the difference between opinion and perception?</p>
<p>I don't know but according to askoxford.com one can have a reputation that is not prestigious unless being brainless is considred prestigious in your neighborhood.</p>
<p>As I said not all Americans are impressed with the education one receives at Ohio Wesleyan even though we have all heard of it and know its reputation.</p>
<p>Sure. That makes no sense at all. You can say the same thing about Harvard because someone somewhere "may not be impressed by the educaiton" one receives at Harvard because of its high grade inflation. According to your thinking that will imply that Harvard is not prestigious. And I think most, if not all, people will say that it really is (me included). </p>
<p>I was hoping that you would recognize that my question was really about the difference between the two definitions of prestige and reputation that you had posted. One uses the word 'opinion'. The other uses the word 'perception'. </p>
<p>The difference? Non-existent...</p>
<p>I can't believe people post so much just so that they can see the shape of their words on screen.</p>
<p>Actually, the number of American colleges and universities that have a reputation for harboring "brainless" people is fairly non-existent. I think it's clear from the thread that it's a lot harder to draw a line between having a "national reputation" and being "prestigious" than it is to see the similarities; there's a rather obvious overlap between the two terms.</p>
<p>"I think it's clear from the thread that it's a lot harder to draw a line between having a "national reputation" and being "prestigious""</p>
<p>Exaaaaaaaaaactly! That's because there is no such difference! So, it is not only "harder", dear: it is impossible!</p>
<p>Nagasaki Wesleyan , Japan (4-year program started after 2000)
<a href="http://www.nwjc.ac.jp/en/index.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.nwjc.ac.jp/en/index.shtml</a></p>
<p>Some former Wesleyans:</p>
<p>Wesleyan Ladies College, Hamilton, Ontario; closed 1890s
<a href="http://collections.ic.gc.ca/hamilton_tour/wlc.htm%5B/url%5D">http://collections.ic.gc.ca/hamilton_tour/wlc.htm</a></p>
<p>Central Wesleyan College, Warrenton, Missouri, closed 1941
<a href="http://library.truman.edu/manuscripts/centralwesleyan.htm%5B/url%5D">http://library.truman.edu/manuscripts/centralwesleyan.htm</a>
Ozark Wesleyan, Marionville, Missouri earlier merged with Central Wesleyan
<a href="http://library.truman.edu/manuscripts/cwc_contents.htm%5B/url%5D">http://library.truman.edu/manuscripts/cwc_contents.htm</a></p>
<p>Miltonvale Wesleyan College, Miltonvale, Kansas (merged 1972), and
BartlesvillleWesleyan College, Bartlesville, OK, (merged 2001)
both predecessors to Oklahoma Wesleyan
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Wesleyan_University%5B/url%5D">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Wesleyan_University</a></p>
<p>I'll try this one more time and then give up. Possibly a sentence will help. There is a university that has a reputation for admitting every slack jawed semiliterate yokel in the country, and needless to say a degree from that university does not carry much prestige.</p>
<p>The difference between the definition of "reputation" and "prestige" does not hang on the difference between "opinion" and "perception" but on the fact that a reputation can be for traits that are either good or bad. Prestige can only come from a reputation for good traits.</p>
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<p>There is a university that has a reputation for admitting every slack jawed semiliterate yokel in the country, and needless to say a degree from that university does not carry much prestige.<</p>
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<p>And what school might that be? My point is that -- in this country at least -- it's fairly difficult to build a "national reputation" based solely on "admitting everyone who applies". I hate to break it to you but, the two examples you've given thus far, Hillsdale College and Liberty University, are not exactly household names!</p>