US News column severely bashes Wesleyan

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wesleyan University
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<p><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050110/opinion/10john.htm%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/050110/opinion/10john.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Columnist John Leo, whose daughter apparently graduated in 2004, does quite a number on the school. In fact, I think he hit ALL of the outsider-criticism talking points... the "naked dorm", the "porn class", the "c-word" club. Perhaps he has a halfway valid point about political homogeneity (though I don't think the "problem" is nearly as extreme as he makes it out to be), but his column's gross misunderstanding of the events he uses as examples and his thinly veiled homophobia don't really lend him much credibility. He says events like the Queer Prom (a GLBT fundraiser/social event of the sort that happens at virtually every college in the country) and gender-neutral housing options promote "sexual confusion". Way to go, dude.</p>

<p>I've checked on some of this guy's other work and he's definitely got a political agenda. I'm debating whether it's worth writing a letter to the editor about. What do you guys think?</p>

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<p>I have seen similar articles written about Wesleyan but without the dislike of the culture coloring it. Most college campuses are way on the liberal side these days, and if you are right of center, it is difficult to get into a debate or have a discussion that does not get you labeled unfairly. The issue is not the students so much as the profs at the school, and this has always been an issue. My son visited Wesleyan, they were very interested in him as an athlete, but it was too outwardly left for him. But he also visited Wash & Lee and Davidson and felt they were a bit on the conservative side, and that too made him feel uncomfortable. His comfort zone is slightly right of Wesleyan and left of Davidson! Everyone has a different comfort zone. But for many students it is not a big deal issue. They look at the college without taking much consideration for the political leanings as it just isn't an important thing for them.</p>

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<p>To Jamimom: Your son might like Amherst, Williams, Bates, Colby, Middlebury, Bowdoin, Colgate, and Hamilton.</p>

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<p>They probably won't publish it, but, here FWIW, is the reply I whipped off yesterday:</p>

<p>Dear Mr. Leo,
I was just wondering whether in the course of your Google search for all things Wesleyan you actually came across the following items or whether you simply willfully ignored them? 1) the opening of the Green Street Arts Center, sponsored and paid for and staffed in large measure by Wesleyan faculty and students for the benefit of kids in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Middletown? 2) the winning of an international Rhodes Scholarship by a Wesleyan senior from Malaysia?, 3) the fact that there are after-school programs in Middletown that could not exist without Wesleyan student volunteers?, 4) the Internet sale of a student produced music cd, the proceeds of which are dedicated to the relief of Rwandan refugees? I'm just curious. Maybe you did overlook these things (all of which occurred in the last calendar year) in your rush to update the public about a six year old New York Times article about a so-called Naked Dorm (one that for all it's prurient winking and clucking of tongues never actually featured a nude act?) Or, the Pornography course that, contrary to your assertion, was ended well before the professor's death, at the behest of the administration (which is how the media found out about it in the first place.) Wesleyan may not be perfect; but, it's pretty good at what it does best, which is to educate a lot of extremely bright, talented and courageous kids. Since its transformation from a tiny all-men's college in the 1950s to a co-educational, small university of the arts and sciences in the 1970s, Wesleyan has seen its graduates take their places at the forefront of some of the most competitive (and diverse) arenas of American society, including AIDS research, Civil Rights litigation, professional football (Bill Belichick is a member of the Class of `78), motion pictures (Leminy Snicket, Michael Bay, John Turtletaub--the list here is too long) and journalism. Hopefully, in the long run, it will be Wesleyan's track record that counts, rather than it's Google search results.</p>

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<p>I am not sure I understand why everyone is so up in arms about the article. Whether the detailsa re correct are not, it is pretty well known that what Leo is saying is true about the school. He does not deny that the school provides a good education; I am assuming he paid about $160K for his D to go there, nor is he addressing any of the community service and wonderful things that are doen there. What he is addressing is that the school is very left politically and seems to have more in your face type of sexual activities. Both of those things are true about the school. But there are a number of schools that differ from Wesleyan in those regards and those who do not like the Wesleyans, Sarah Lawrences, Oberlins should avoid them and look at schools that Bjrwh suggested. It is also true, and has been true since I was a student that the faculty and the teachings of most of the top colleges seem to be left of center and there is an intolererance of thought for the more conservative leanings. Some schools more than others. Leo certainly has every right to point out these things about Wesleyan to support his argument about the school and does not need to list all of the wonderful things the school has done, as all colleges tend to do. Wesleyan is a bit quirky, a trait that endears it to many of its students. Those who don't like the quirkiness should not go there.</p>

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<p>Jamimom: I'm copying in a private message (edited) I sent to the mom of a recent WES ED acceptance:</p>

<p>Well, first of all, I think it's interesting that his daughter didn't transfer. She can get a good education at a lot of places, but she chose to stay at Wes. </p>

<p>Individual issues: yes, the school is very liberal. There are conservatives, and there are Republicans, but they are a small minority. This is also true at my son's school, Columbia, and probably most selective schools. But there's plenty of dissent--even if it's Pro/Anti Palestinians/Israelis (There is a huge Jewish percentage, so the school can't be that anti-semitic --about half of my D's close friends are Jewish, and they had no problems as far as I've ever heard), or differences of opinion on chalking. The Argus tends to be one of the more middle-of-the-road groups in campus, too.</p>

<p>there is no "Naked Dorm". There is an arty type dorm you have to petition to get into which condones naked walking around, though in actuality according to my D, that was rare. I have NO idea what he means by a "porn dorm." There is a gender-neutral dorm, because there are a few students who are transgender--but this has nothing to do with pornography, and his reference is offensive. There is a Queer Prom--lots of silly dressing up, very common at quite a few of the LACs we visited. One of the first things a Wes student will learn is that queer is not a synonym for gay.</p>

<p>One of the frats is the stereotypical conservative, hard-drinking party type. Others are less so. A lot of colleges are trying to curb those excesses.</p>

<p>Overall, it's hard to figure out how to answer this. Mr. Leo obviously has an axe to grind. And the homophobia in his column is startling.</p>

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<p>To John Wesley: just to be correct: the CD was to benefit Sudan, not Rwanda. </p>

<p>This article didn't bother me at all because very few of the things he said would be negative things for me. Also, there are many things wrong with it... for example, the push against frats has come from the administration, not the students, and Wesleyan is not even close to being alone in abolishing frats. Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin, and Middlebury already did it, so it's not as if Wesleyan is at all unique in doing so ( I personally don't think they should be abolished, even though I would never join one).</p>

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<p>I'm hoping they'll print at least one of the responses they get, and I'm sure they'll be getting several (the EIC of the Argus wrote a very nice one).</p>

<p>Anyway, here's mine:</p>

<p>Dear Editor,</p>

<p>I read with considerable disappointment John Leo's January 10, 2005 "Campus Life: Fully Exposed". I'm a sophomore at Wesleyan. The column was pointed out to me by several people, and I thought it looked rather familiar. As it would turn out, Mr. Leo was beaten to the punch by a September 6, 2004 article in the right-wing rag "Front Page Magazine" by Mike Adams, entitled "The C-Word at Wesleyan U".</p>

<p>Front Page Magazine may be willing to let its writers produce a full-column diatribe against a specific university, but I would expect US News to hold its people to higher standards. Mr. Leo may appear to have the inside scoop because his daughter just graduated, but it's obvious that he took at face value several campus hoaxes and urban lengeds (such as the now-infamous, but alas, still fictional naked dorm) which simply don't exist, and never did exist, in reality.</p>

<p>He also seems to take the presence of Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender groups and events as intrinsically negative. I'll concede one point to him: there is very little tolerance on campus for the commonly-held right-wing point of view that homosexuality and "sexual confusion", as Mr. Leo calls it, is wrong. If he wants to accuse us of stifling debate on this issue, then I suppose we're guilty as charged.</p>

<p>That being said, there were Bush supporters on our campus in 2004. They were in the minority, as they were on every college campus and in every urban area in the northeast. Nonetheless, there were civilly-conducted exchanges in the campus newspaper between Bush and Kerry supporters. I myself, a moderate-to-liberal Democrat, have never felt squeamish about expressing my opinion when I disagree with the so-called "campus orthodoxy" and neither do many, many other students. Has John Leo ever read the "Wespeaks" section of the Argus?</p>

<p>I will close by saying that if Mr. Leo has a complaint about Wesleyan, he would do best to direct it to the someone on the campus instead of broadcasting it in US News. I personally think that a nationally-circulated weekly newsmagazine is not the proper venue to dissect the day to day life of a private university.</p>

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<p>Nice job, Xmatt. I hope they print this.</p>

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<p>People: if USNews prints any comments on the Wesleyan story, please post here and let us know.</p>

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<p>Garland, the daughter may have loved it there. He does not mention what his daughter thinks of the place. And he put about $160K into the place, most likely. There are those who dislike a college enough that they refuse to pay a dime to it. </p>

<p>Wesleyan is well known for being a more off beat than its "little ivy" siblings, and kids should know this before going there. There are any number of schools that are similar to it in culture. But I do get the feeling that the Wesleyan students revel in their quirkiness, and take pride in it. It's not as though some of their issues are any big secret--they've been addressed in the NYTimes, The Gatekeepers and any number of publications. I'm sure many of the things are exaggerated--can't imagine a dorm in New England where the occupants walk around nude year round. It certainly has not hurt the reputation of the school. Wesleyan is a highly desired college in my son's school, and I certainly would have supported any of my children had they chosen to go there. But it is less of a fit for a "Wash & Lee" type of a person than say Bowdoin or Amherst or Williams. It has its distinction. It is unfortunate that Leo's article had some incorrect info in it and that should be corrected. His opinions...well, he has certainly paid for them, he is entitled to them. I don't think this is going to hurt the school's rep in the least.</p>

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<p>No doubt he's entitled to his opinions. But I'm also entitled to call him on his errors, and more egregiously, on his homophobia--these things have nothing to do with giving any useful information to anyone about Wesleyan.</p>

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<p>Garland, I like Wesleyan. It would be a school on my list if I were applying to colleges and though I like Williams, Amherst and Dartmouth which are more "preppy" and traditional, if I were perfectly honest with myself, Wesleyan is probably the best fit for me. As a parent looking for a match for my kids, I preferred the more preppy schools but honestly more because of my desire to have them fit the more traditional molds. But for parents who are looking at schools, many in this country do feel like Leo and would want to know about some of Wesleyan's unique traits. He should not have put in things that are untrue and the college should call him and the publication on those things. But looking at the red state this election, many parents may feel more the way Leo does and would want to know about Wesleyan's tolerance and welcoming of all kinds of sexualities. It does bother a lot of people and is a relevant issue to them. If anything, Garland, he probably enhanced the rep of the school, particularly those kids who are most comfortable in that kind of environment.</p>

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<p>I think there's a significant difference between "quirky", which most student at Wes would probably be comfortable describing themselves as, and "depraved", which I personally don't believe would sit well. It doesn't with me, anyway. The column in US News was kind of nasty and mean-spirited, it didn't cry "quirky" to me.</p>

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<p>I agree with Jamimom on one point: that these strangely timed articles rarely have a direct impact on Wesleyan. If anything, they often presage an uptick in interest in the place.</p>

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<p>I think the article is humorous in that it is a disgruntled , homophobic father who has paid an arm and a leg at one of the most expensive colleges in the US when the climate at the school really bothers him. I see a number of these cases, and many times the payer sees the humor in it. My friend's H who is a big football fan and loves Big 10 sports watched his D turn down a near full ride at the state school which was his dream school and his idea of college to go to NYU at full freight, and we all know what kind sports that school has. For that he is paying $50K a year, and is supposed to be happy that she got in (which he is, in a sense, and he sees the irony of this as well). And he does make some snide remarks about the school but he is not a columnist. So I looked at the article in that light. </p>

<p>But then I like Wesleyan, and would not have minded a bit to have had a child go there.</p>

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<p>There is a kind of red state Dad/blue state Daughter dichotomy that indeed could have been funny. But, no sooner does he introduce his daughter (no doubt as an excuse to revisit some hoary old Wesleyan myths) than he promptly tosses her aside and suddenly, it's Miller time (Zell, that is.) I'm sorry, I have very little tolerance for that kind of borderline blogging masquerading as reasoned journalism. I actually do hold a big-time media outlet like USNews to a higher standard than I would, say--"College Confidential". As an aside, I see in this morning's news that CNN has cancelled <em>Crossfire</em> and tossed host (and Trinity grad) Tucker Carlson along with it. While I have no hard feelings against Tucker and hope he finds a suitable gig, soon, I hope CNN's decision bodes well for the return of sensible (read: no-butting heads) journalism to prime time cable tv.</p>

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<p>Three cheers for CNN (and some for Jon Stewart too) for finally ending that awful show. You will not be missed Crossfire.</p>

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<p>The US News article by Mr. Leo is far more accurate than it is inaccurate. Maybe the "Pro Wesleyan" crowd does not like to see what they really look like. Are you also planning on writing a letter to US News asking them to retract their recent inclusion of Wesleyan in their "Hot Schools" publication? There were a lot of less controversial LACs who did not make that list. I think you are unfairly picking on US News.</p>

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<p>... The good thing about the article is that the author's biases are not thinly veiled at all, and people with brains would be able to see them. If I didn't know about Wesleyan, I would actually become interested in it after reading the article because I would agree with many (not all) of the events described but not the interpretation of them. I'd say to myself, "here's an idiot who is writing about a cool place."</p>