Washington & Lee University Snapshot

Written by Clarke Morrison

Clarke Morrison

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Year after year, Washington and Lee has been remarkably successful at producing happy students. Freshmen usually come in starry-eyed, and leave four years later, content, happy, grateful for an awesome experience, and nostalgic for all the good times gone by. The demanding expectations of faculty don't seem to put a serious damper on the general feeling of good cheer. One objective gauge of this is W&L's remarkably active and supportive alumni network, which supports the University, stays in touch to get jobs for students, and most recently, chipped in cash to the tune of $240 million for massive modernization projects.

Students give high marks to the educational quality here, as well as to the natural setting and the sense of community and respect engendered by the Honor System and a tradition of gentility. But as their comments have shown, some students are put off by the small-town environment and the dominance of Greek life on campus, as well as by recent friction between students and the administration over alcohol policies and changes to their beloved Spring term. Most biting is some of the criticism leveled at the Greek system for allegedly crippling the social options for students who don't really want to party all the time. Many students here believe their school is like no other-an example of what college life should be-and want to keep it that way.