From John F. Kennedy Jr. ’83 to Princess Theodora of Greece and Denmark ’86, Brown has always attracted high-profile applicants. Inside Higher Ed (citing a new book by Wall Street Journal admissions superreporter Daniel Golden) has the story of how one applicant with a famous last name allegedly got in:
When then-Hollywood übermogul Michael Ovitz’s son wanted to enroll in 1999 … Brown admissions officers found the academic record of the younger Ovitz not close to what would be appropriate for an offer of admission. But they were pressured to admit him anyway, with top administrators far more concerned about the abilities of the elder Ovitz – to host receptions for Brown administrators to raise money, to bring movie stars to campus, and presumably to help build Brown’s endowment.
Though Ovitz’s son was admitted, under special status, he didn’t last long at Brown and left. Ovitz’s daughter followed, apparently with more success. And Brown also gained, as the book describes Brown President Ruth Simmons gushing over Ovitz for arranging a campus appearance in which he appeared with Dustin Hoffman, and for hosting a reception for her at Ovitz’s Brentwood mansion.
There’s more in Golden’s book on Harvard’s use of the “Z List” — a special group of 25 to 50 kids from known wealthy families whose transcripts aren’t quite up to snuff for normal admittance. They’re encouraged to apply again in a year — with the understanding that Mom and Dad will make a big donation in the meantime.
Scandalous! If something you’ve been 99 percent sure of turning out to be 100 percent certain can be scandalous. Maybe it’s that the expose is personal this time. We know someone who just got into Brown under suspicious circumstances, and, well … we’re just ashamed of her.
Silver Spoon Admissions [IHE]
What happens when Columbia BME’ers let their hair down? That is, if short, predominantly Asian hair could be let down in the first place? A Facebook album whose value looks a little like … 
!
Above: Prof. Paul Sajda conducts office hours. More intergenerational, differential equational pics after the jump.
(Disclosures: Thanks, Columbia tipster. And no, we have no idea what that equation means.)
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In this first-ever edition of our daily dailies roundup …
Hey, kids! Want to wake up real early and write RagTime for an audience of, um, several? Run don’t walk to ivygate@gmail.com!
You’re never exactly glad that summer is over, but still, there’s something happy and hopeful about arriving back to campus for the first day of school. The weather is changing; you’ve got a slate as blank as your new Five StarTM notebooks. You’re taking an exciting Harold Bloom seminar, that cute Kevin might ask for a date, and maybe you’ll even try out for OH MY GOD WEST NILE VIRUS IN NEW HAVEN!!
As if everyone’s favorite urban hellscape wasn’t charming enough, it’s now a cesspool of disease-carrying mosquitoes, the YDN reports. Two New Havenites have been diagnosed, including one fatality, and on Thursday a new case was reported in nearby West Haven. Some quick IvyGate math tells us that means a) there’s a 50 percent death rate and b) THE TERROR IS SPREADING.
Yale RAs freshman counselors handing out back-to-school kits might do well to include some DEET with the usual off-brand condoms and anorexia brochures.
Bee Shaffer giveth, and Bee Shaffer taketh away.
Shaffer, Columbia ’09 and spawn of Vogue‘s Anna Wintour, is quitting as features editor of the new Spectator magazine just days before its Thursday launch, a Columbia tipster tells us. After the SoaP-level hype surrounding Shaffer’s involvement in The Eye, we’re kinda miffed. As are, no doubt, the Spec staffers who’d been drafting pickup lines for casual newsroom use (“I see angels wear Gucci. Get it? ‘Cause it’s like the devil wearing Prada, but only … What do you mean, ‘That’s all’?”).
Shaffer didn’t reply to our e-mail, but word has it she didn’t split because of any editorial friction. She just decided she’s not that into journalism. Which might be for the best.
UPDATE 2:02 p.m.: An Eye editor says Shaffer is still involved with the magazine as Special Projects Editor — in charge of a semester-long project to produce a special shopping/fashion/gift guide towards the end of the year.
Hey, Yale Herald guys — congrats on the mention in the education issue of the New Yorker! We think.
Is that a good or bad thing? Eh, Sarah Raymond can probably use it to get laid at a lit mag party. Meanwhile, our friend Duke Obsrvr landed this quote in the same issue’s long piece on the Duke maybe-rape scandal:
A sharp-eyed campus social critic, the widely read anonymous blogger known as DukeObsrvr, summed up the men’s lacrosse team’s place in the social hierarchy this way: “Let’s not kid ourselves, what frat doesn’t hate these fuckers? The lacrostitute is a notch higher on the social scale than the ‘frat slut.’ And dammit that’s something worth fighting over.”
So, yeah, maybe not so illustrious a week for the student writer set.
As summer’s cruel countdown ticks to zero, we hope this finds you drunk and satisfied with the season. Morgan Stanley made you that offer; you squeezed every last kilometer out of that Eurail pass; and as for Johnny Castle — you’ll never see him again, but O summer love it was worth it.
It’s all over now as Brown, Columbia, Penn and Yale trudge back to class this week, tan, rested, and still a little high. As for us, we spent our summer watching Rocky training montages on YouTube, shadowboxing and committing Ivy class presidents to memory.
Check in with us tomorrow at the crack of 10, when we kick things off in style. Probably by desperately begging you for tips. We crave information, people, and the gossip here is only as good as what you leak us. Email IvyGate@gmail.com! IM ivygateblog! We have, as this test run should have made abundantly clear, pretty low no standards.
It’s hard to hate on Andrew Bujalski, Harvard ’98. Maybe that’s why film critics, seduced by his effortlessly fawkward dialogue and pasty-face characters, seem to forget all English words except “generation,” “poet,” “authentic,” “Cassavetes” and “zeitgeist,” which isn’t even English. The guy’s new movie, “Mutual Appreciation,” got a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. (Meanwhile the brilliant “The Skulls” got a seven. Sometimes we want to climb up a clocktower.) Come on, people! Where’s the dissent? Will no one step up and hate Andrew Bujalski?
Fine, if you insist.
How to Make an Andrew Bujalski Film: First, choose the six most annoying people you know. One of them should be marginally attractive, if only when backlit. Next, think of the ten most insignificant conflicts imaginable (like a Froot Loop fell on the floor, or you forgot to pick the lint out of the dryer filter). Now outline a series of conversations dealing with those conflicts and shuffle the pages into a random order. Inject your actors with Quaaludes before shooting. Onset, avoid tripods and well-lit areas. If an actor accidentally finishes a sentence or makes a coherent point, yell “cut!” and start over. Repeat until famous.
Disclaimer: We actually admire Bujalski’s work. Grudgingly. True story, though: two film buff friends of ours, in a fit of rage after watching his film “Funny Ha Ha,” microwaved the videocassette.
It’s been a hell of a week here at IvyGate, and the biggest highlight by far hit at 12:41 p.m. Friday: comment No. 100. Noisemaker sound effect!
We love you! Each and every one of you! Except the ones we don’t. But more on that elsewhere — right now, we just want to bring a few people up on stage:
- “Dude, my mom was addicted to crack. Party foul.” The funniest all week, hands down. Congratulations, Mr. … um, fuck, Anonymous. Identify yourselves, people, amusingly!
- “Breaking: Lamont’s daughter sits near alcoholic beverage. Of course its satire you morons.” Way to get our back, brah.
- “hey! that’s not very nice,” by “salty dog saloon.” You kids today and your meta …
- The bizarre scooter tangent found here. We were prepared to go some weird places when we started IvyGate. We were not prepared to go to the Oklahoma Palliative Care Resources Blog.
- “I’d suggest that her handlers advise her to skip a few sessions of cardio and instead cozy up with Strunk & White,” and all 474 words in the rest of Peter S.’s frightening comment — which he took care to post TWICE, on both our items about Marisha Pessl.
We likey. Keep it up, guys.
First, you gotta read our post one minute from now on how the vast majority of the comments so far have been just awesome. Some other stuff, though, we want to get after — hard. A few blogs (see: Deadspin; the Bwog) are known for having hilarious and civil comments sections that make the sites much more entertaining than they ever could have been on their own. Others (see: Internet, the entire) are ugly and festering. This site is young enough to go in either direction. We have a choice to make.
Whoever called a girl we posted about a “total slut” — why do you think it’s cool to be an asshole? Whoever wrote this tumor — why do you think it’s cool to be an asshole? Theoretically — theoretically! — Ivygoers are better than that. Look, we’re the biggest fans around of tearing people and things down … but do it with a cutting remark, not ugliness.
Uh oh, did we just kill the buzz up in here? No! Er … ahm … desperate … Hey, didja get a load of this subway breakdancer from Penn?
