<p>Gee, this is a tiresome thread. JHS–weren’t you a grad student at Stanford? That is perhaps not the optimum vantage point for assessing the undergraduate culture, whenever it was that you were there as a grad student.</p>
<p>I’m a current undergraduate, and your assessment is extremely inaccurate with respect to the intellectual proclivities of my classmates. I’m finding intellectually-engaged, brilliant students in all of my classes. Discourse about readings, issues and theories abound in the dorms, libraries and classrooms.There may well be exceptions, as there are sure to be everywhere, but your characterization of me and my classmates couldn’t be more wrong. Many undergrads here seek “a place at the table”, and there’s a welcoming atmosphere for all of us from the faculty.</p>