In the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, Brown defined its unique place within the American consciousness by flaunting its countercultural streak through the newly formed Open Curriculum and vehement student activism. The legendary but fleeting Semiotics — later Modern Culture and Media — department helped produce iconic writers and thinkers such as Ira Glass ’82, Jefferey Eugenides ’82 and Rick Moody ’83. John F. Kennedy Jr. ’83 brought a certain swagger to the University that really put it on the map. It was cool to go to Brown — cool in a way that Harvard could never have dreamed of.
Now, in an age where prospective students obsess over rankings and metrics, the unique nature of Brown’s undergraduate experience can get lost in the data. By the numbers, we do well across the board — and really well in certain Brown-esque areas. But no statistic can capture the essence of the University — that factor which makes it a truly cool place to go to college. The recent announcement that Brown was the top producer of Fulbright students for the fifth time in a decade comes the closest — out of all the rankings — to encapsulating that special quality that makes Brown, Brown.
As of September, U.S. News & World Report says we’re No. 11 in the nation for economics, Niche says we’re No. 3 for public health, No. 4 for global studies and No. 4 for English. Also according to U.S. News, we’re No. 8 for first-year experiences, No. 18 for innovation and No. 12 for “Best Value.” That’s nothing to complain about. But do these rankings really provide the best reasons as to why a prospective student should attend Brown? We don’t think so. And we’re willing to bet that if you asked a Brunonian on the main green, they’d concur.
Let’s hone in on the areas of excellence that best represent Brown’s aura. For the past six years, U.S. News has listed us as the No. 1 school for “Writing in the Disciplines.” Now we’re talking. In every facet of the Brown undergraduate experience, not just in the literary arts department, writing is integral. Combining this with third-place “Undergraduate Teaching Programs” makes for an education that is not only deeply introspective but also fantastically engaging.
We’re also No. 4 for our Senior Capstone program. On top of our writing and teaching, this feels closer to pinpointing the Brunonian magic. It’s about more than just learning the material. It’s about having interests and pursuing them. It’s about the weird and unusual questions we’re obsessed with and the independent intellectual adventures we go on.
But, really, our achievement of being the top producer of Fulbright students for the fifth time in nine years — having been in the top three all the while — is what best tells the story of our dear, dear Brown University.
The U.S. government calls it the “flagship international academic exchange program.” Fulbright students are awarded grants to go abroad and “pursue graduate study, conduct research or teach English.” Brown prepares us to pursue adventure, seek immersion and ask the questions no one else will ask — all on our own terms. This scholarship is about leadership, academic distinction and worldliness, but all through the lens of an independent, untraditional pursuit of knowledge. Simply, we at Brown excel in the untraditional.
While this metric gets closest to conveying what the Brown experience is like, the only way to understand what it’s all about is to enroll. But if you happen to find yourself in need of an elevator pitch, we hope you’ll keep this in mind. Fulbright students are who our country, according to the State Department, sends to foster “mutual understanding between the United States and other countries.” If you’re looking for a statistic that says: Why Brown? That’s the one we’d choose.
Editorials are written by The Herald’s editorial page board, and its views are separate from those of The Herald’s newsroom and the 135th Editorial Board, which leads the paper. This editorial was written by the editorial page board’s members, Ethan Canfield ’28, Rchin Bari ’28, Paul Hudes ’27, Paulie Malherbe ’26, Ben Aizenberg ’26, Tas Rahman ’26 and Meher Sandhu ’25.5.
