Yale University . . . “Bulldog! Bulldog! Bow, wow, wow!”
Only a handful of colleges around the world have achieved such remarkable prominence that they have literally become iconic. Yale is one of them. The very name Yale suggests accomplishment and excellence. Even the silly words of the Yale football team’s fight song, “Bulldog! Bulldog! Bow, wow, wow!” were written by the legendary composer Cole Porter . . . a Yale alumnus from the Class of 1913. Yes, everything about this university, the student body, the faculty, the housing . . . even its football fight song . . . exudes ‘first class’ and excellence.
Yale is one half of the oldest college rivalry (Harvard vs. Yale) in America and one of the oldest on the planet. It is the third oldest college in America having been founded in 1701. Harvard likes to point out that all ten of the original Yale founders were Harvard graduates. What they generally omit is that at the time those ten individuals were in school, Harvard was the only college operating in America! In addition, those Harvard alums were so disappointed in the ‘liberal’ educational direction Harvard was following that they felt compelled to establish Yale as a more reasonable college alternative. The rivalry has been a part of both schools ever since.
Just how good is good when it comes to accomplishment ‘Yale style’? Well, consider this. From 1972 through 2004, there was a Yale alumnus on either the Republican or Democratic presidential ticket in every election! In fact, the streak seemed likely to continue in 2008 until front runner, and former First Lady, Hillary Clinton (Yale Law School ’72) lost a close race for the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama (Harvard Law School ’91).
In the early part of the 20th century, Yale was often considered ‘elitist’ because it followed an unofficial admissions policy known as Numerus Clausus. At the time, many top American colleges engaged in this policy which gave admissions preference to wealthy and well to do white Christian applicants over African American or Jewish applicants. In 1966, Yale officially rejected this policy and ever since has worked diligently to accept one of the nation’s most diversified student bodies . . . a goal which it has proudly accomplished.
Don’t think that Yale’s remarkable academic history doesn’t leave time for some fun and games. The popular comic strip “Doonesbury” began as a part of the Yale student publication, “The Yale Daily News”. In fact, many of the comic strip characters were modeled after real people at Yale during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. For instance, the name of football quarterback (and later war hero) ‘BD’ bears a remarkable coincidence to the real Yale football quarterback Brian Dowling!
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