For the first time ever in my life I take pause when pulling out my Northwestern gear to wear out in public. NU will always have a central place in my heart since I met my wife there, but I am at least starting to become disillusioned with the pedestal I had the program on all these years. Anyway, now realizing that Northwestern football as we know it may never recover, I am cognizant that the mid 90s when I was in school will be remembered as the peak of NU football, but also campus life. Everything was gravy, the upset after upset, Gameday, pep rallies, attending the Rose Bowl. We experienced the boom of internet access in the dorm which transformed our education and opened up the world. Few kids had cell phones much less smartphones stunting face to face interactions. Northwestern broke into the US News top 10 Best Colleges for the first time but in hindsight was much easier to get in than today so we hit a perfect sweet spot.
Now from what we are hearing, post-COVID, post-millenial, post-everything divisive from the last 3 years, I'm hearing that campus life is not so much fun. NU is enamored with how selective it is in trying to academically and socially engineer its incoming classes, is it really producing a community that is better than when we went to school?
Add the scandal that seems to permeate nearly every aspect of the athletic programs over many years, you've gutted the biggest advantage and the very identity of NU student-athletics. I don't know what to think.
Very tired from working long long hours this week and probably not making too much sense. Just reflecting, and saddened by it all.
Now from what we are hearing, post-COVID, post-millenial, post-everything divisive from the last 3 years, I'm hearing that campus life is not so much fun. NU is enamored with how selective it is in trying to academically and socially engineer its incoming classes, is it really producing a community that is better than when we went to school?
Add the scandal that seems to permeate nearly every aspect of the athletic programs over many years, you've gutted the biggest advantage and the very identity of NU student-athletics. I don't know what to think.
Very tired from working long long hours this week and probably not making too much sense. Just reflecting, and saddened by it all.
