<p>Based upon some of the posts in this thread, for example, about frat/sororities, diversity, etc.--do you think that they have comparable offerings, facilities, etc.? Is weather really the chief distinguishing factor? (If so, I think the choice is made :) Is it fair to say the NU has better film/journalism/media studies?</p>
<p>Vanderbilt does not have a journalism program, although there are opportunities for students to participate in several media outlets. As far as formal opportunities go, NU almost definitely offers more along those lines.</p>
<p>Both have pretty significant fraternity/sorority scenes, but Vanderbilt's is probably more involved in organizing campus-wide events. Students who are not interested in joining have no trouble fitting in at either campus, in the experience of my kid at Vanderbilt and his friends at NU.</p>
<p>I have the impression that Vanderbilt's campus offers more in the way of music events on campus. Nashville is a center of the music industry, and it easy and often inexpensive to hear well known groups.</p>
<p>The weather question is more important for some than for others. I spent half a dozen years at the Univ. of WI, during one of the coldest periods in the midwest. During that time, I visited Chicago rather often. Then, I lived in northern Indiana, and again, I visited often. I don't mind the cold, but there is no question there will be more outdoor events at Vanderbilt, more hanging out in the sunshine, and if that is something a student likes to do, the winters in Chicago will seem long.</p>
<p>One more difference that may be significant: the living situation, particularly after freshman year. The Commons residential college for freshmen is brand new at Vanderbilt, and I don't believe NU has a similar program. At Vanderbilt, all undergraduates are expected to live on campus for four years; a variety of housing options opens up after freshman year, although there are lotteries and applications involved. I think--could be wrong--that many, if not most, NU students live in Evanston, off campus, as upperclassmen. The fact that so many undergraduates are living on campus is probably one of the reasons the Vanderbilt campus is so cohesive and lively.</p>
<p>Enjoy your visits.</p>
<p>patient: My d is looking towards the same type of field of study @ Vandy....Communications/media/journalism.....(her other choice is not NU, but Newhouse)....still hasn't decided</p>
<p>The way I see it, Vanderbilt will provide a more well rounded liberal arts education....that's not to say that the approach is necessarily better, per se, but more well rounded....Major can be self-designed so that she can experience those communication and film/journalism type courses that she would like....along with any of the other offerings that exist....</p>
<p>That being said, communications and journalism are industries as much as they are "majors" in college; I would think that most any major at Vandy would allow one to attain internships and eventually full-time positions in the fields they desire....</p>
<p>I actually had a long conversation with the career placement center about this topic last week...PM me if you want details.....very interesting.....</p>
<p>You know, rubio, I decided to ignore your baiting me on the Cotillion (!!??) remarks </p>
<p>I respond because I am interested in the OP and in any families/students realizing that quality of life in Nashville is a big fun plus. I have also lived four times in Atlanta, and I like both New South cities a lot but Nashville has such a relaxed artsy vibe despite its fast economy, big business size.
I agree with MOWC that it is sort of a shame that everyone is realizing how much fun Nashville is and how many creative talents live there now....</p>
<p>Why is Nashville on another level compared to other cities like it? Nashville brilliantly incorporated Davidson County into the city a couple/three decades back and this is one of the reasons they can pull in so many business ventures and work together on problems. If only we could accomplish this where I live now.</p>
<p>since I am a Yankee and married to an even bigger Yankee (sorry, no cotillions here!) and we lived near the Vandy campus for years working in social services and law addressing both medical needs and legal needs...and I have reason to know a lot about what Vandy is doing throughout Nashville in terms of fulfilling its ideals and role in serving its region...Vandy offers leadership and student volunteers in so many meaningful ways in a major USA city. </p>
<p>It is such a joy to me to see the undergraduate school gain breadth in the student body long characteristic of the stellar law school and the wonderful med school and the diverse Div School.</p>
<p>...but I can concede that my description of Gee with his signature bow tie and his ties to the Mormon church where we saw just saw American voters split quite recently (Huckabee and his inexplicable waffling on Evolution vs. Mitt Romney surprised to lose the nomination battle) was lacking in well-described context. America is divided on issues of religion...the fact that Gee was a Mormon, and was not only warmly embraced at Vandy but throughout Nashville...(I have many friends who worked closely with Gee since we are now fiftyish and my former friends are his contemporaries).. in city that at one time was decidedly defined quite narrowly in past decades as the stronghold for mainstream Protestant publication houses (and I recall Billy Graham in my day preaching on the field at Vandy) is Change, is why today's Vanderbilt is diverse and open and deserves better than the "cotillion" digs from afar. </p>
<p>Many many schools are undergoing big cultural shifts..Vandy's just was delayed. </p>
<p>I am sure Billy Graham would be most welcome to preach at Vandy today..but Mitt Romney would also find a crowd to address. This transition is something that you have to drive by the closely situated Methodist publishing houses with its Upper Room museum and the Baptist publishing houses to grasp, and you have to see how Nashville as city is also pulling in people from other regions in business as well...so cultural arts expand and religious respect for all has greatly expanded. Vandy is not only interested in recruiting Jewish students who feel happy studying and working there...Vanderbilt's Divinity School is simply a leader in interdenominational studies. </p>
<p>The Div School was way ahead of the undergrad school and has been a place for many faiths to lead, to debate and to study for years. (When we were there, Al Gore was taking courses in the Div School along with his JD.) I am very happy the Schulman Center is built and on campus, but it is only one reason I like Vandy undergrad more now than twenty years back. I have a close friend here who is Jewish in my hometown now whose sister was simply lonely at Vandy twenty years ago. Last night at a local political fundraiser a guy we are supporting for election is younger than us and a Vandy grad, so we went up to introduce ourselves and talk about the alma mater. We did not know he is Jewish, but he brought up the latest article in the Vandy mag posted here yesterday....and he describes a much refreshed culture at Vandy today in terms of many faiths in the dorms and in the classrooms at work. </p>
<p>Vandy is a player in the scene of selective medium sized schools with top multi cultural students matriculating now...in a friendly city with a great economy and its share of problems to address...and Vanderbilt is a great institution that is highly valued in Nashville, a town with pretty great town/gown relations.</p>
<p>rodney, I'm not sure but I think Anderson Cooper is a Vanderbilt grad? If so, guess he did ok in terms of getting into the media business :)
Certainly supports your comment of getting opportunities in your "field" no matter the major....</p>
<p>Anderson Cooper graduated from Yale. His connection to Vanderbilt is that he is a descendant of Cornelius Vanderbilt. His mother is Gloria Vanderbilt.</p>
<p>Thanks for correcting me on that one, 2VU!</p>
<p>curiouser - No big deal. I checked on it because I figured if Anderson Cooper was an alum I would have heard about it through the alumni publication that are sent to parents or by reading The Hustler. I don't know how your brain works, but in my brain if I had heard child of Gloria Vanderbilt a long while ago, I would later turn that into Vanderbilt University or some other similar connection. My middle aged "wiring" does things like that on a frequent basis!</p>
<p>I thought Anderson Cooper was Dartmouth.</p>
<p>maybe curiouser was thinking of David Brinkley...LOL....</p>
<p>dke - Since I didn't think he was connected to Vandy, I checked on Wikipedia and it said Yale. I don't allow my students to use Wikipedia because not all information is factual, so maybe I've been the victim of relying on it!</p>
<p>CNN</a> Programs - Anchors/Reporters - Anderson Cooper</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cooper graduated from Yale University in 1989 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. He also studied Vietnamese at the University of Hanoi. Cooper is based in New York City.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>"You know, rubio, I decided to ignore your baiting me on the Cotillion (!!??) remarks."</p>
<p>It wasn't an attempt to bait. I was stating a fact. My understanding of exclusion and bigotry are far different from yours.</p>
<p>Gordon Gee was the head of Vandy until 2007. Although he started his reverse discrimination campaign in 2002, it lasted much longer.</p>
<p>The Atlantic Monthly 5/2008 has an interesting article about Israel. <a href="http://www.the%5B/url%5D">www.the</a> atlantic.com.</p>
<p>To those who think that Treblinka and Auschwitz will never occur again because of Israel, this is an interesting article.</p>
<p>Targeting Jews is how 6 million Jews ended up dead.</p>
<p>Perhaps I'm not following you, Rubio. But are you trying to campare the targeting of Jews by the Nazis, with the intent to exterminate them, with the targeting of Jews by Vanderbilt, with the intent to encourage their presence on campus because of their wide ranging accomplishments?</p>
<p>Interpret it anyway you choose. Jews have largely been targeted for their wide ranging accomplishments.</p>
<p>I am really disturbed at the criticism of Chancellor Gee in this thread. As a leader, I'm sure he had a variety of people involved in efforts to make Vanderbilt a more diverse institution. Perhaps he and others didn't optimize the language that was used in communicating this one effort of what has been a many pronged strategy to improve diversity, but that doesn't make him or Vanderbilt "evil."<br>
Chancellor Gee's decision to return to Ohio State was met with sadness by all members of my family last summer. D was studying in Berlin at the time and S at work in DC when e-mails and IMs began flying between us on the afternoon of the announcement. Chancellor Gee did so much during his time at Vanderbilt to develop a cohesive student body. The Commons project is part of the vision he established with his leadership team to make the college experience a more open, more cohesive one that de-emphasizes the Greek dominated campus culture. I know of many ways he moved among and with the student body - meeting/greeting students and parents on move-in day with bow tie cookies, attending parties at fraternity houses, attending many other campus events, leading the student body in taking the field at football games and charging the court following the VU victory over #1, undefeated Florida during the 06-07 basketball season, hosting a senior send off party during commencement, and inviting student leaders to dinners on a frequent basis. I was always impressed by the fact that Chancellor Gee was so confident in his own religious beliefs as a Mormon, but so tolerant of the actions/customs of others. For example, attending parties where alcohol was prominent for of age students without criticizing based on his personal belief system.
Like all of us, Gordon Gee is not perfect. He is, however, an outstanding university leader.</p>
<p>^^^ Completely agree. It was a big loss to Vanderbilt and Nashville when Gee left.</p>
<p>rubio: as a teacher of Holocaust studies, I have no idea what you are implying....but Vanderbilt recruiting Jewish students (or African-American, Hispanic, Asian or whatever) is certainly not the same as the Nazis targeting Jews, Poles or homosexuals during the Nazi regime.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if anyone has enlightened you yet to this fact, but Vanderbilt was at the forefront of Holocaust studies as far back as 1977 (when the rest of the country could care less)...see below for the lecture series website.....
Would the Nazis have done this as one of their little tricks, you suppose?</p>
<p>Vanderbilt</a> Holocaust Lecture Series 2007: Home</p>
<p>If you are a survivor, I empathize with your feelings....but your attack on Vanderbilt, in particular, is odd......IMO
(Does this go back to Cornelius Vanderbilt and his opinion of the Jews in NY during the 20th century?).....</p>
<p>While we are at it, Why not attack USC? They have been trying to attract more Jewish students for years....and what about Lehigh while we are at it....What's the grudge against Vanderbilt????</p>
<p>Isn't Anderson Cooper the one who stole Aaron Brown's job, while doing extensive coverage of Katrina? Interesting.</p>
<p>"The Atlantic Monthly 5/2008 has an interesting article about Israel. <a href="http://www.the%5B/url%5D">www.the</a> atlantic.com."</p>
<p>My suggestion to read an interesting article about Israel is hardly an attack. It is a report that will result in a possibly different interpretation, especially if you are a holocaust professor. It is not online yet and it is a pay site, but it is out in hard copy.</p>
<p>I am not a holocaust survivor, I made an accurate observation early in this thread, and all future comments have been in response to my original comment, which is all I really wanted to contribute.</p>
<p>I have often heard that the Vanderbilt family of students, parents and educators were very sad to see Gee leave--but you can rest assured that he was welcomed with open arms at OSU--and treated as the long, lost hero finally returned to home. He is often seen around campus, sporting his bow tie, chatting with students and inviting them to his home for milk and cookies. It is easy to see that they all have grown to love him dearly--he is the ultimate BMOC.</p>