[81alum]

[quote author=DC 86 link=topic=15166.msg164888#msg164888 date=1465744579]
[quote author=81alum link=topic=15166.msg164883#msg164883 date=1465715867]
I convinced myself that Stanford was more egalitarian than the Ivies--there was some evidence to think so, given that it refused to give preference to legacies

Not true, although historically Stanford has weighed legacies less than its Ivy counterparts.
[/quote]

The latest info I've seen (from an ex-Stanford Admissions person) says that these days Stanford weighs legacy significantly more than the Ivies.
[/quote]
In the mid 1970s Stanford claimed not to give preference to legacies.  One of many of the reforms that emerged from the 1960s that have since been abandoned.  Princeton states that its legacies are admitted at about a 35% rate, while its overall admissions is closer to 7%.  At least that is what they put in their letter to me earlier this year.

With regard to the eating clubs, times may well have changed.  They were the subject of a lawsuit in the 1990s to force them to go coed, so they were dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century after I departed.  Their history is interesting.  They were established because Princeton had the good sense to ban fraternities in the 19th C, so this was the next best thing that could pass muster within the rules.  Even so, Woodrow Wilson was disgusted with their influence and had enormous friction with them during his tenure as university President.  Today, the eating clubs cost an extra $2000 or so beyond a normal Princeton eating plan, and I am not at all surprised that 3/4 of the students feel the need to pay the premium to join them. 

One of my students invited me to the Ivy Club.  Perhaps I over generalized from my experience there.  The antebellum comment was more about the racial relations than the architecture, but many of those "clubs" were incredible buildings.  I naively remembered the Toyon eating club at Stanford--which looked like a hovel compared with the Princeton clubs, and was an entirely different kind of establishment.  It was probably that contrast that set me up for such a shock.

I'm still wondering if Stanford's Greek life has also changed over the last 35 years, or its drinking scene.  It seemed tame, benign when I was there despite my misgivings about the concept of exclusive clubs. 

[81alum]

[quote author=DC 86 link=topic=15166.msg164888#msg164888 date=1465744579]
[quote author=81alum link=topic=15166.msg164883#msg164883 date=1465715867]
I convinced myself that Stanford was more egalitarian than the Ivies--there was some evidence to think so, given that it refused to give preference to legacies

Not true, although historically Stanford has weighed legacies less than its Ivy counterparts.
[/quote]

The latest info I've seen (from an ex-Stanford Admissions person) says that these days Stanford weighs legacy significantly more than the Ivies.
[/quote]
In the mid 1970s Stanford claimed not to give preference to legacies.  One of many of the reforms that emerged from the 1960s that have since been abandoned.  Princeton states that its legacies are admitted at about a 35% rate, while its overall admissions is closer to 7%.  At least that is what they put in their letter to me earlier this year.

With regard to the eating clubs, times may well have changed.  They were the subject of a lawsuit in the 1990s to force them to go coed, so they were dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century after I departed.  Their history is interesting.  They were established because Princeton had the good sense to ban fraternities in the 19th C, so this was the next best thing that could pass muster within the rules.  Even so, Woodrow Wilson was disgusted with their influence and had enormous friction with them during his tenure as university President.  Today, the eating clubs cost an extra $2000 or so beyond a normal Princeton eating plan, and I am not at all surprised that 3/4 of the students feel the need to pay the premium to join them. 

One of my students invited me to the Ivy Club.  Perhaps I over generalized from my experience there.  The antebellum comment was more about the racial relations than the architecture, but many of those "clubs" were incredible buildings.  I naively remembered the Toyon eating club at Stanford--which looked like a hovel compared with the Princeton clubs, and was an entirely different kind of establishment.  It was probably that contrast that set me up for such a shock.

I'm still wondering if Stanford's Greek life has also changed over the last 35 years, or its drinking scene.  It seemed tame, benign when I was there despite my misgivings about the concept of exclusive clubs.