Trivia(l) question: why so many Wesleyans?

<p>johnwesley - Hillsdale and Liberty may not be household names where you come from but they garner a lot of national press. Go do a Lexus-Nexus search if you don't belive me. Not everyone who knows their reputation considers them prestigious. </p>

<p>Bob Jones university also has a national reputation. We all know the school and what it stands for but I will wager that nine out of 10 posters on this board (most of whom seem to lean pretty far to an end of the political/socio spectrum not occupied by the typical Bob Jones graduate) do not consider a degree from Bob Jones University to be prestigious. In fact a hefty majority of them probably consider a degree from the university a stain on ones record. </p>

<p>I am not going to take a public position on the prestige of any school or university I have no affiliation with. My only interest in this entire thread has to do with the meaning of the words "reputation" and "prestige" and now I do feel like I am hijacking this thread so I am going to quit arguing.</p>

<p>PS - I was born and raised in Ohio and never heard of Ohio Wesleyan. Simply put it had no reputation good, bad, or indifferent so far as I was concerned. That lack of name recognition on my part is no reflection on any aspect of the school except perhaps its PR department.</p>

<p>CatotheCensor:</p>

<p>Allow me to repost your last two messages:</p>

<p>Saturday: "the education one receives at Ohio Wesleyan even though we have ALL HEARD (emphasis mine) of it and know its reputation"</p>

<p>Sunday: "PS - I was born and raised in Ohio and NEVER HEARD (emphasis mine) of Ohio Wesleyan"</p>

<p>I am puzzled how it is that you expect other people to react about what you say when it seems to be a challenge for you to impose a basic structure of consistency of what you say over the course of two days. No further comments, I suppose. </p>

<p>Incidentally, I did agree with johnwesley and his last comment. :-)</p>

<p>Ok I confess. I was feigning knowledge of Ohio Wesleyan I do not possess either to hide my own ignorance or to spare the Ohio Wesleyana community's feelings. I forget which, probably both. If you asked me about any of the gazillion little liberal arts colleges in Ohio I can only actually tell you something about Oberlin, Kenyon, Marrietta, and Hiram. The remainder are as undifferentiated in my mind as the individual blades of grass in my backyard and as I say I was born and raised in Ohio.</p>

<p>Furthermore maybe you are right and nobody who isn't a conservative has ever heard of Hillsdale. On the other hand since it is ranked just one slot lower than Ohio Wesleyan in the US News Rankings I guess my ignorance of Ohio Wesleyan's reputation and your ignorance of Hillsdale's are equally understandable. Are we to conclude from that that neither of them is prestigious? I don't know you tell me and I will go along with whatever you say. Now give it a break I surrender:-)</p>

<p>jeez, as a Denison grad, all of this OWU talk is giving me the heebee jeebeez :)</p>

<p>This is actually, more a comment on the USNews ranking than any individual or post... But, here goes...</p>

<p>Schools at or below Hillsdale College's rank in the USNews poll that are WAY better known and prestigious:</p>

<p>Hampden-Sydney
Antioch College
Fisk University
Hampshire College
Morehouse College
Randolph-Macon College
St. John's College (MD)
St. John's College (NM)
Wesleyan College (GA)
Virginia Wesleyan College
West Virginia Wesleyan College, and
OHIO WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY</p>

<p>Papa Chicken, I am equally amused to see that johnwesley is actually being sympathetic to a point favorable to Ohio Wesleyan considering that he himself is a graduate of that "other" Wesleyan.</p>

<p>Northwestern is another historically Methodist school.</p>

<p>"On May 31, 1850, nine devout Methodists gathered with a common vision: to found a university which would be a haven for 'sanctified learning' in the West. They chose a spot just south of Grosse Pointe, and in 1855 Northwestern University opened its doors."</p>