College Equals Fun

On August 1st, the results were released by The Princeton Review of the top party schools in the country.
On August 2nd, we were walking the campus of the number one party school in the country.
Of course, we were not part of the rush to tour campus because of its number one ranking. We had made the appointment a few weeks before in an effort to visit colleges before Spencer's senior year begins.
We're having a tough time narrowing down colleges because Spencer doesn't know what he wants to major in or whether he wants to go to a big or small college or whether he wants it to be located in a city or in the country.
"I want it to be fun," he told us after the first visit to a college in a small town, which did not stand up to his criteria of fun.
Well, with the new rankings by The Princeton Review, it appears that Ohio University meets the only criteria that Spencer set.
I will have to say that OU has had a party reputation since before I went to college. My best friend from high school went to OU, joined a sorority, graduated on time. She turned out fine.
The campus is charming, set in a town the same size as the student population. This is definitely a college town. The town actually butts into the college. Spencer was impressed with the workout facility. The major of Wildlife and Conservation Biology also caught his eye. He perked up at the idea of playing intramural basketball because they could create their own teams without having a coach or anyone to tell them what to do.
His friend Hayden came along although he had toured the campus before. Hayden, who has a twin brother, has gone on a number of tours and has remained unmoved, according to his mother. Yesterday, Hayden and Spencer seemed convinced that OU, which just happens to be the number one party school, is the right place for them.
We've got another visit set up next Tuesday that takes us to a smaller school that doesn't fall any where in the rankings on the party school list. Let's see if they can up the "fun" quotient.

Dark, Early Morning

My schedule this quarter has me getting up early and leaving the house while everyone else is still asleep. I get to campus and find a primo parking space. My classes start at 7 or 7:30 a.m., which means I arrive on campus any time between 6:30and 7.
I lock my car with a beep and walk across the parking lot to the brick walkway. Sometimes I'll see delivery trucks backing up to the cafeteria. An occasional maintenance worker hovers near an outdoor trashcan with a cigarette in hand. The campus is dark and my heels echo against the bricks before I climb a few steps and enter the building that houses the English department.
This morning, I had a substitute because I'm in North Carolina for a conference.
This morning at 7 a.m., the police were called because a woman was raped in the women's bathroom in that building that I walk into every morning.
"...10 mins bf i got there," texted Marcus who subbed for me. "good thing u weret @ wrk 2da. Teribl."
I don't want to minimize the awful thing that happened to this woman by saying it was a close call for all the other women who did or did not walk in that same door after her. Rape is one of those weapons that men continue to use against women. No matter how equal we are. No matter how smart or how successful, a woman is always at risk.
I imagine for the next few weeks campus security will be more of a presence for those early morning and late night classes.