Cornell University: The Most Bizarre Ivy Of Them All
If Cornell wants to be taken as seriously as its other Ivy counterparts, it's going to have to get a heck of a PR team. All year, the stories from Ithaca have kept us entertained, from the Email Sex Scandal of earlier this year to last week's ridiculous sorority dress code. This week, the hits keep coming... -
The school has just reported that they're shutting down their 40 year old $25 insect-identification program, wherein people could literally mail half an insect in an envelope to the school and have it identified. The fact that the program is shutting down is not nearly as bizarre as the fact that such a program existed in the first place.
So what else is weird about Cornell? Well, lots.
The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Sapsucker Woods researches, well, birds, but that's not to be confused with their Duck Research Laboratory, which researches ducks.
The Cornell Review is a conservative newspaper founded by Ann Coulter, perhaps the only college publication in the nation which accuses its school of left-wing politics and political correctness.
Cornell students celebrate Dragon Day every year in mid-March, where Architecture students build a dragon and then the entire school joins together to set it on fire.
According to legend, if a virgin crosses the Quad at midnight, the statues of the University's founders will come to life in order to congratulate themselves on the University's chastity. Judging from the popularity of "Dragon Day" and the Duck Research Laboratory, I'm guessing this happens frequently.
Here is something else they do for fun:
Play human chess. And this isn't a photo I had to search for on the depths of the internet. This photo is on their admissions site. They WANT people to see this picture when trying to decide whether to come to the school.
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Also, They Do This:
Ithaca, however "Gorges" it may be, is a cold, miserable place during the 9 months school is session, but luckily drugs are readily available on the commons. And if students are worried about the effects said drugs have on their brains, well, they can go check out the BRAINS that are on display in Uris Hall.
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Despite being a haven for chess loving, duck-researching geeks, Cornell has a surprisingly huge Greek System, but even they have been earmarked for weird, un-mainstream behavior. According to (what is admittedly a probably unfounded) rumor, the Alpha Delts, who live in a Tudor building on campus, require pledges to, ahem, "screw a goat" in the basement of their separate rotunda building. So there's that.
And lastly, among the schools' illustrious alumni is Bill Nye, The Science Guy.
This is all in good fun, of course, and there are many colleges with equally bizarre quirks and less stellar reputations. But in terms of the Ivys...if Cornell isn't the weirdest, what is?
[All images via Cornell]
Vassili Verrecchia Shows Off His Favorite Things In His Paris Home
While his brother, Timothee, runs the NYC office, Vassili takes on the Paris-based side of things. To gain some insight to what inspires such a creative and entrepreneurial spirit, we asked Vass to show off some of his favorite worldly and sentimental possessions in his Paris home. See where Vass's travels have taken him...
about 13 minutes ago
about 42 minutes ago
about 13 hours ago
about 14 hours ago
02:56:54 PM May 21, 2012
02:35:16 PM May 21, 2012
11:01:39 AM May 18, 2012
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ivygrad
January 26, 2010
5:35pm
Brown. Brown is by far the weirdest. Students don't get grades, they throw naked god parties, there's no competition. Cornell is cold 8 months a year, of course they're going to get stir crazy. Brown is batshit. That's the truth.
CornellGrad
January 26, 2010
6:53pm
Cornell is known for being the easiest Ivy to get into, and the hardest Ivy to graduate from. The most bizarre Ivy trait they possess, is the expectation for students to do actual WORK in order to get passing grades.
January 26, 2010
11:33pm
brown is the weirdest by far.
Chiaraflunkedcollege
January 27, 2010
3:27am
One of the foundations of Cornell was the rare opportunity for any student to "find instruction in any subject." Hence, the wide variety of offerings which you view as "weird." Chiara, are you aware that the images and tidbits you include trivialize this ground, but more alarmingly, show that you did not research the educational backing of anything you try to discuss?
erikagwen
January 27, 2010
1:55pm
We used to joke that once the tuition checks cleared, Cornell turned off the sun. 9 months of miserable indeed.
chiaradidnotflunkcollege
January 27, 2010
6:35pm
"Chiaraflunkedcollege"?? This is YOUR nickname? Proves you didn't do YOUR research. Did you not read the part where she wrote "it is all in good fun"? Someone-meaning YOU-need to seriously lighten up! You sound like a drag.
IvyLeagueGrad
February 1, 2010
1:35pm
Pretty mean-spirited "fun" if you ask me. Not to mention a perfect example of what happens when you take an institution's (or a culture's or an ethnic group's) customs out of context and then try to judge them. Sounds like a bad case of ivy-envy.
Where are all the credible writers?
February 5, 2010
2:20pm
Wow. What a vapid excuse for a writer. I haven't read something so poorly written and shallow since Elizabeth Wurtzel. You think human chess is geeky? I'm betting you've never played a game of chess in your life. You think displaying brains and bug identification is weird? I don't even know what to say to something so clueless. What exactly do you think SHOULD happen at college? More Greek activities? As if that's the answer to coolness? I'm in the humanities, not the sciences, and I find all these "quirks" fascinating. It's dumb people like you who make being intelligent ugly.
Really?
May 20, 2010
12:53am
Chiara, this is one of the poorest articles I've ever read. As a Californian, I am embarrassed. As one who once encouraged family and friends to go to NYU, I am embarrassed. This is a joke right?
vifi
September 1, 2011
11:06pm
What a sophomoric article! Is this written by a university graduate? God help this country if it is.