Maroon News

Issue date: 1/24/08 Section: Commentary

Colgate has an excellent strategy to recruit students. We have a beautiful campus, beautiful people, a multitude of amenities and one of the safest schools in the nation. Prospective students send in their letters of commitment, dreaming about the infamous "Colgate Hello", wild parties, library robots, heated sidewalks and exclusive Starbucks café that were so frequently emphasized in guidebooks. Most recently, the class of 2011 arrived, eager to witness the wonders of the utopian campus we so prematurely flaunted to our fellow graduating classmates. Alas, the only things that have lived up to their reputations thus far have been the meticulously preened landscape, the rigorous workload and campo.

Initially, I considered the purchase of the College Prowler novel, "Colgate University: Off the Record" one of the most worthwhile investments I have ever made. I read it cover to cover before arriving, revering it in a hallowed light. There was no way the information compiled in the all-knowing book could be inaccurate, after all, every book in the series is written by students for students. Marching resolutely up the hill, little orange book in hand, I searched out famous landmarks: the futuristic Case Library, mundane Frank dining hall and the unfortunate lack of ethnic diversity. Everything seemed to be there, physically Colgate is an aesthetician's greatest fantasy, but I was yearning to take advantage of the college scene in more depth.

The beginning of the school year promised to expose the intricacies of real college life or college life as told by the Princeton Review, Fiske Guide to College, my best friend College Prowler, etc. On the first day of school I laced up my sneakers, threw my book bag over my shoulder and headed out into the sunshine, bracing myself for the outpouring of reception I was about to receive. In the seven minutes it took me to get from Stillman Hall to Olin Hall, not one person gave me the "Colgate Hello" and no one around me seemed to care enough about anyone else to greet each other. The Colgate I pictured was a shy person's best way to assimilate into college life rolling hills up in Madison County where earnest, happy individuals gathered to greet each other with wide smiles and emphatic, "Hellos". Instead, I was disappointed to discover that not one established stranger made an attempt to Colgate-Hello me in the duration of the semester.

What is there to do in Hamilton on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday or Saturday night if not party? One of the most attractive features of this school is its dependable nightlife scene, and many of the sources I read, ran with the attitude that, "Colgate students play hard, but study harder." After a week of pounding out papers and taking laborious notes, we look to the weekends to blow off some steam, yet venturing down the hill has become somewhat of a hit-or-miss situation because many of the parties are either invitation only, or are so filled up that waiting in line is futile. Most parties are mind-blowing, but I've noticed that the most infamous weekends have fallen short of expectations. Take the last Friday before Winter break as an example. What I envisioned to be a snowy extravaganza of drunken young adults who had just been released from a grueling fall semester turned out to be a slushy, windy night of capacity parties and scouring to find shelter.

Continued...

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