More than 700 prospective first-year students crammed into a large tent on the Main Green yesterday, chattering with excitement and anticipation as they waited for President Ruth Simmons and Dean of Admission Jim Miller '73 to give the opening speeches for this year's A Day On College Hill.
The speeches, filled with praise for both the Class of 2012 and for Brown as a whole, emphasized the University's open curriculum and uniquely collaborative approach to learning as key reasons for choosing Brown.
Miller spoke first, keeping the mood light by beginning with a few routine jokes. "I just want to reassure you, I voted for every one of you," he said to a cacophony of applause and laughter.
Simmons followed, reviving the cheers by lauding the future first-years as the University's "brightest, most creative and most diverse class yet," adding "most beautiful and most handsome" to the list of superlatives shortly thereafter.
Simmons speech took on a more serious tone when she changed the focus from the admitted students to the University.
"The will to best others will not be your inspiration here," Simmons said, adding that as Brown students, the members of the audience would find themselves becoming "more confident, well versed and adaptable learners." As a result, she said, they would begin to discover "what it means to truly, deeply love learning."
Simmons went on to discuss the importance of the University's "commitment to diversity," calling it the "single most important thing" that prospective students should know about Brown. She said that this commitment is not just limited to the composition of the student body and faculty, but includes the University's academic values as well. As a result of this commitment to diversity, she said, the only mandatory requirement for future Brown students is an open mind.
"You must come prepared to respect every individual in this room. If you're not prepared to do that, you really should not come to Brown," Simmons continued. But she added, "You don't have to agree with them. In fact, you won't agree with many of them. But you must come prepared to listen, to engage, to challenge and to respect."
"We've also pledged to integrate global perspectives more fully into the curriculum so that our students will feel confident living and working in a truly global environment," Simmons said, noting that weak boundaries between countries and cultures are easily overcome by shared knowledge and circumstance. She said that the elimination of these boundaries is a key aspect of Brown's mission.
About half of the eight attendees interviewed by The Herald felt confident that they'd attend Brown in the fall. Most students did, however, appreciate the speeches.
"Ruth Simmons is great, and she's gorgeous," said Andrea Garcia of Falfurrias, Texas. Garcia said that she will definitely attend Brown in the fall and that she plans on spending ADOCH attending classes and meeting the other future first-years.
Yuli Zhu, of Chicago, was also confident that she'd be enrolled next year. "I thought it was very inspiring. It made me want to come even more," she said of Simmons' speech.
Not all in attendance were as optimistic as Zhu and Garcia, however. June Yoon of Tempe, Ariz., for instance said that, though Brown was high on her list, she was still unsure where her final decision would place her. She did add that, despite her uncertainty, coming to Brown definitely made her feel much more comfortable with the idea of a future here.
