MBB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

A few of our ODAC Schools made the 2008 Princeton Review Lists, for better or for worse:

Guilford University:
  #3 in Is It Food? (Based on students' rating of campus food)
  #13 in Reefer Madness

Thanks for the lists!  I believe Guilford College was also #6 in the Great College Radio Stations category, a list on which they earn a spot almost every year.

[Jacketlawyer]

The lists are based solely on what students attending the schools report about their own colleges on an 80-question student survey.

Thanks for the list, and the methodology, Algernon. 8)

[mybleedinghands]

LC's dining services received silver and gold in the 2006 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards competition.

LC and E&H are also the only two ODAC schools on the list of "COlleges That Change Lives" http://www.ctcl.com/

EMU, HSC, LC, and W&L made the Templeton Honor Roll. http://www.collegeandcharacter.org/guide/honorroll.html for an explanation of what that is.

"The National Review College Guide recognizes LC as one of America's top fifty liberal arts colleges and one of the best buys in higher education." - According to the LC website.

US News and Report Rankings http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/:
Universities-Master's (South): Top Schools - #43 Lynchburg

Liberal Arts Colleges: Top Schools - #15 W&L, #83 Sweet Briar, #91 Randolph College, #106 Hampden-Sydney, #122 Randolph-Macon

[jdubyadubya]

Baselinejam and Sludge - thank you for your insightful responses to my comment.

[hasanova]

LC and E&H are also the only two ODAC schools on the list of "COlleges That Change Lives" http://www.ctcl.com/

No, there are actually three ODAC schools on the list.  You inadvertently omitted Guilford.  GC has been on this important list annually for as long as I can remember and is again this year.

[mybleedinghands]

LC and E&H are also the only two ODAC schools on the list of "COlleges That Change Lives" http://www.ctcl.com/

No, there are actually three ODAC schools on the list.  You inadvertently omitted Guilford.  GC has been on this important list annually for as long as I can remember and is again this year.

whoops, i certainly did!

[hasanova]

LC and E&H are also the only two ODAC schools on the list of "COlleges That Change Lives" http://www.ctcl.com/

No, there are actually three ODAC schools on the list.  You inadvertently omitted Guilford.  GC has been on this important list annually for as long as I can remember and is again this year.

whoops, i certainly did!

No problem, Scottie.  I just know how thoroughly entrenched Guilford is on this list, so your post caught my attention.

[algernon]

A few of our ODAC Schools made the 2008 Princeton Review Lists, for better or for worse:

Guilford University:
  #3 in Is It Food? (Based on students' rating of campus food)
  #13 in Reefer Madness

Thanks for the lists!  I believe Guilford College was also #6 in the Great College Radio Stations category, a list on which they earn a spot almost every year.

Sorry that I missed that one.  I've corrected it above.

I might add that the other ODAC schools (Bridgewater, EMU, Roanoke, Emory & Henry, Lynchburg, and Virginia Wesleyan) do not show up in the Princeton Review rankings because they are not among Princeton Review's "Best 366 Colleges."  Princeton Review must consider the school one of the "Best 366" and the school must also agree to a survey of its students.

If interested in the methodology, check out
http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/articles/find/rankingsFAQ.asp

[mybleedinghands]

I might add that the other ODAC schools (Bridgewater, EMU, Roanoke, Emory & Henry, Lynchburg, and Virginia Wesleyan) do not show up in the Princeton Review rankings because they are not among Princeton Review's "Best 366 Colleges."  Princeton Review must consider the school one of the "Best 366" and the school must also agree to a survey of its students.

If interested in the methodology, check out
http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/articles/find/rankingsFAQ.asp

Lynchburg is on the list of Best 366. http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingsBest.asp that lists all the schools in the list. The schools on that list are Guilford, Hampden-Sydney, Hollins, Lynchburg (seems like LC is on the list every year), Randolph, Randolph-Macon, Sweet Briar, and Washington & Lee. LC just didn't make any of the other assortment of rankings, so LC didnt make any of those other good lists, but thankfully they didnt make the other more negative lists!

I leave off Guilford on a list, and you leave off LC, hmm.... lol

[Jacketlawyer]

Lynchburg is on the list of Best 366. http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingsBest.asp that lists all the schools in the list. The schools on that list are Guilford, Hampden-Sydney, Hollins, Lynchburg (seems like LC is on the list every year), Randolph, Randolph-Macon, Sweet Briar, and Washington & Lee. LC just didn't make any of the other assortment of rankings, so LC didnt make any of those other good lists, but thankfully they didnt make the other more negative lists!

Scottie, I get plenty of clients from good ole Lynchburg!!   College kids will be exactly that, no matter where they go.

I have come to embrace my alma mater's # 11 ranking.  It's brought me a lot of amusement over the past 24 hours!

Hasa, I gotta admit Guilford's rankings just keep cracking me up!  They stand in stark contrast to the W&L, H-S, and R-M categories (college radio, reefer madness).  Guilford's vibe is completely different!

[mybleedinghands]

Hasa, I gotta admit Guilford's rankings just keep cracking me up!  They stand in stark contrast to the W&L, H-S, and R-M categories (college radio, reefer madness).  Guilford's vibe is completely different!

Guilford is the warren wilson college of the ODAC

[hasanova]

Hasa, I gotta admit Guilford's rankings just keep cracking me up!  They stand in stark contrast to the W&L, H-S, and R-M categories (college radio, reefer madness).  Guilford's vibe is completely different!

Guilford is the warren wilson college of the ODAC

No, Warren Wilson is the Guilford of whatever the heck conference they belong (actually, I don't think there is one).  lol

[algernon]

Lynchburg is on the list of Best 366. http://www.princetonreview.com/college/research/rankings/rankingsBest.asp that lists all the schools in the list. The schools on that list are Guilford, Hampden-Sydney, Hollins, Lynchburg (seems like LC is on the list every year), Randolph, Randolph-Macon, Sweet Briar, and Washington & Lee. LC just didn't make any of the other assortment of rankings, so LC didnt make any of those other good lists, but thankfully they didnt make the other more negative lists!

I leave off Guilford on a list, and you leave off LC, hmm.... lol

I definitely failed to include Lynchburg as one of the "Best 366" ..... that they didn't make the "Top 20" on any of the rankings might be just as well, as you've implicitly suggested.

[hasanova]

Hasa, I gotta admit Guilford's rankings just keep cracking me up!  They stand in stark contrast to the W&L, H-S, and R-M categories (college radio, reefer madness).  Guilford's vibe is completely different!

Well, jacketlawyer, my friend, you are right.  Guilford's "vibe" is different and the students - and alumni - for the most part, are somewhat proud of that and embrace the college culture.  First, some words of explanation from an alumnus who has been aware of the college and its culture for 37 years:

- The college was founded by Quakers (Society of Friends) and while it is no longer directly governed by the Quakers, it is still greatly influenced by its beginnings.
- Being different at Guilford is actually more normal than being a conformist.  If you walk around campus, you will see hundreds of students who look like they were the nonconformist in their HS class, but no one notices.  The guy who would get noticed is the one with a blue blazer and a rep tie.  lol
-  If someone says a tree is going to be cut down, a couple of hundred people already own a chain to tether themselves to the tree before the lumberjack arrives.  
- ROTC is not allowed on campus, but students can take ROTC at NC A&T if they want.  Military recruiters are not allowed on campus, but many students have gone on to OCS and done well.  Probably more students have joined the Peace Corps or similar organization.
- Sports are important, but not worshipped.  Independent study in Frisbee golf would probably be allowed to cover a PE requirement.  I know tree climbing has been as well.
- The college has a paid staff position to support Lesbian, Gay, Transgendering and Questioning Students (I'd have to look it up to get it exactly right lol).
- Everyone from the President on down is called by their first name and that seems strange to some, but it is not at all a lack of respect for authority.
- Decisions are reached through consensus and not majority rule.  It's frustrating for the uninitiated, but effective and it does not polarize.
- Most students - and faculty - are more liberal in their politics, but all points of view are respected and embraced in open discussion.
- Once, when a new US flag was requested for the gym, it was allowed as long as a similar-sized flag was provided for every country that had ever sent a student to Guilford.
- Fraternities and societies are not allowed - the theory is that all groups should be open to all students - and they are.
- Guilford was a stop on Harriet Tubman's underground railroad in antebellum days.  Many Quakers helped runaway slaves escape.
- Japanese-Americans were on the college sports teams during WWII when such actions were very unpopular.  
- Quakers from New Garden Meeting (Guilford College was New Garden Boarding School from 1837-1888) treated the wounded from both the Colonials and the British during the nearby Revolutionary War Battle of Guilford Courthouse.  British soldiers are buried with markers in the graveyard at New Garden Friends Meeting across the road from the college.  The battlefield is a National Military Park just a few miles from the college.
- Guilford is diverse by design.  It does create a lot of very spirited classroom experiences and helps you learn that everyone is not - and should not be - the same.

Guilford influences you - and changes your life - and it has mine as well.  I don't agree with everything there, but I understand the cultural influences that cause it to be the way it is.

A quick, interesting story:  my middle brother (Guilford 1972-74 and then transferred to UNC-CH) and I were at the LC game in Greensboro last winter.  Scottie was near us with the game camera for LC and during halftime GC students played tribal drums on the court.  Actually, they were pretty good!  Scottie asked us, "Is this a hippie school or what?"  We had to laugh and we just said, "Yes, actually, it is ... and it has been for a long time."  You do get a great education and a solid social conscience on a beautiful campus, so there's plenty of room for that in this world as well.  Peace  

[mybleedinghands]

you can search for a school name and it will give you a list of everything they rank in, too, by the way.