My little brother forwarded me this piece from the Times today. It profiles the "Ivy Plus Society," a networking/social club of sorts open to the young alums from certain schools (aka Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Princeton, Brown etc). The article itself portrays the club as more of a place to meet and mingle with Ivy League singles...aka the smart and the sexy.
My first reaction, of course, was to Google this Ivy Plus Society and see if either of my alma maters made the list of colleges and universities "eligible" to participate.
I was dismayed to find that not a single one of the Seven Sisters was on the list! (Wellesley, Smith, Mt. Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, Radcliffe and Barnard, thank you) Neither was Northwestern. Shit, I thought, there goes my chance to meet hot Ivy League singles.
Oh wait, I'm married! Married to a brilliant, thoughtful, creative man. The kind of which every Wellesley gal dreams. Only, he didn't go to Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton...
He went to a state school! Hah!
In fact, one of the first conversations we ever had revolved around the differences between hoity-toity private colleges versus state schools. RM was describing life at Plattsburgh State, and mentioned something about lectures and school functions. I don't remember exactly what he said (and neither does he, for that matter), but I remember blurting out, "you didn't have refreshments after lectures and functions?" He turned and stared at me, astonished. I continued, incredulously, "We always had at least brie and crackers!"
Even as he laughed in my face at the ridiculousness of such an utterance, I continued to describe to him the candle ceremonies, Flower Sundays, hoop-rolling and other Wellesley traditions. After I thought I had really backed myself into a pearl-necklaced, tea-drinking corner, he stopped joking with me. When it really came down to it, our experiences weren't all that different. Except I probably paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more for my brie and crackers...
I've known plenty of people who have gone to Ivies, the majority of whom are intelligent, thoughtful human beings. But just like at any typical American school, with the good eggs come the not so good eggs. The Ivies are no exception.
Which is why I find it ridiculous that such things set up for the purpose of hooking up "Ivy League" singles. You can be smart and sexy, even though your resume says you went to Wellesley instead of Yale. Or Plattsburgh State instead of Harvard.
It's not a new or by any means original argument. But I did feel a little relieved to have the burden lifted from my shoulders of feeling like I should show up at one of the society mixers.
