Note: Thanks to Epinions Category Manager Caty James for agreeing to pull the old description of The Evergreen State College based on my recommendation. Unfortunately, that may leave you wondering why I've got such a bee in my bonnet. Read on anyway for a good rant.

Imagine my consternation to find a description of my alma mater, The Evergreen State College, that describes it as a place where "hippies, hippies, and white guys with dreadlocks" "think about how to change the world and ‘ponder life's most mind-boggling struggles.’"

Do I see the same type of demeaning portrayal of other colleges? Do you truly want to compare the number of people who wear Birkenstocks—-which some people view as irrefutable proof that someone is a hippie—-at the University of Washington and Evergreen? Moreover, do we really care that some people use their time at Evergreen to explore lifestyle options outside the mainstream? To try on hairstyles outside the mainstream? Do we not see this on all college campuses? And isn't college the time to do it?

Where's the real description of the college and its offerings--undergraduate degrees, interdisciplinary learning, Masters in Teaching, Environmental Science and Public Administration? This sounds like a description written by an unappreciative member of the Olympia community.

I’m incensed. It is shallow. It is idiotic. It does not do Evergreen justice. I will try to keep my anger in check while giving you a more accurate picture of The Evergreen State College.

It’s not Ivy League
Granted, Evergreen was not my first choice. As I was graduating high school the letters and offers from Harvard, Stanford and others came rolling into my family’s mailbox. I would have loved to be able to attend one of those Ivy League schools, but I had to pay my own way through college. Since I already had a relatively well paid job in my hometown of Olympia, I could afford to work and attend Evergreen. Putting local perceptions about the college aside, I enrolled in 1986 looking toward a career in computer science.

What and whom I found at Evergreen changed me forever.

I’d be programming today
The first year I was at Evergreen I had the good fortune of finding a professor who effectively changed the course of my life. Betty R. Estes was one of the faculty members for the interdisciplinary, yearlong course named "Society and the Computer."

Laugh if you will at the narrative evaluation process at Evergreen. But these comments, written by Betty in my first-year evaluation, gave me the prod I needed to change my focus from computer science to communications. I will share a few comments to illustrate the value of the evaluation system:

"The clarity, thoroughness and precision of words in her answers were especially noteworthy…Throughout the year Gwen worked hard to improve her writing; by the end of the year she had become so successful that many of her papers seemed shorter than they were, because they flowed so well. Gwen is an excellent writer."

I would also never trade these types of comments for an "A" on a report card:

"…every teacher’s dream student: very intelligent; a positive attitude about herself and her learning; high expectations and a willingness to strive for them; an engaging personality that lets herself work well with others; strong personal and societal values that provide a foundation for integrity; and ability to both have fun and be serious."

As a high number of Evergreen undergrads do go on to get their Masters and doctorates, the school does have a process for requesting that the narrative evaluations be translated into a GPA. I for one would feel disappointed to see those many wonderful, well-written, lengthy personalized comments dumbed down to a one-letter grade.

If you know where you’re going, you’ll get there
I understand that Evergreen’s policy of letting students personalize their education baffles the outside community. From the inside, here’s what I saw:

* Only the motivated would take the overwhelming amount of time required to create their own study curricula. The process professors put students through before they will sponsor them in a self-study situation is very detailed and demanding. The truly brilliant on campus took advantage of this option more than any others.

* The ones who weren’t brilliant or motivated and tried the independent study route whined, cried and failed. I knew one girl who transferred from another state university (which shall remain unnamed) because she thought Evergreen would be easier. This whole "create your own education" idea sounded like a free ride to a B.A. to her, I guess. She lasted three weeks. Upon finding out that her professor had the time to check up on her more than three times a week, could tell when she hadn’t read the material she had said she would, could see that her writing was lacking and required her to re-submit almost everything, she departed, tail between her legs.

I also saw some truly amazing work come out of those who chose the independent study path: well-written and performed plays; amazing black-and-white photography studies; musical compositions; books; and in-depth studies of the ecology of specific parts of our region. Some of the work, I dare say, was of almost doctoral dissertation quality.

Although some would like to portray the independent study option as an easy way out for those who can’t make it in a structured learning environment, I found the opposite to be true. Those students whose intellectually capacities surpassed all of the other more structured learning options on campus excelled in independent study. The rest failed miserably.

Even the mainstream undergrad courses demanded that you be an involved student. With maybe 30 students in small seminar groups, there was no place to hide. You had to attend class regularly. You had to participate. You couldn't copy another person's work because the student-teacher ratio was so low that the profs knew your writing style. You had rare opportunities to cram at the last minute. Your ignorance would show immediately if you weren't keep up with the coursework. Not a bad lesson in life, is it?

It’s not exactly conservative
The general community at Evergreen used to lean so far to the left that it just about toppled over. There is a certain expectation that you must be extremely liberal to attend the college.

You don’t. Back when the college first opened its doors it definitely built itself on a community of counter-culture students. Today you are just as apt to find people to right of center taking the excellent computer science, environmental science and Masters in Public Administration courses. Although the college community is still quite liberal, any polls on campus would unearth a good number of very articulate Republicans with a lot of experience defending their views.

The Evergreen experience was a political awakening for me. The student community is known to mobilize itself and shock the local community. The days of the peaceful protest are not gone at Evergreen. While there, I learned more about the power of one voice and the power of people--even college students--to influence politics and change the course of society. Whichever party you find yourself affiliated with, that is a valuable lesson that I think some people miss in their college experience.

The real Evergreen experience
Evergreen students and faculty do indeed ponder life’s "most mind-boggling struggles." We apologize for not being willing to skate on the surface of every issue. Pardon us Greeners for being more interested in protesting nuclear waste being trucked through our state or freedom of speech violations than in more upper-level business courses or fielding a football team. Excuse the heck out of us for having social consciences and brains and, some of us, dreadlocks and crocheted tams. (Excuse me for that tirade.)

Now, here’s the alternate description I would propose for The Evergreen State College:

Recognized by U.S. News & World Reports as one of the top Western liberal arts colleges, The Evergreen State College welcomes motivated freethinkers. This institution is not for the lemmings of this world. The college allows exceptionally gifted students to fashion their own education while offering the type of one-on-one guidance from highly educated professors that you don’t find in larger institutions. With average SAT scores of the student population qualifying many for membership in the high IQ society Mensa, it is indeed a place to learn how to articulate your views with verve. Come to be challenged. Come to engage the world around you. Come to explore the depths of your intellect. Birkenstocks recommended, but not required.

For the numbers behind the greatness of The Evergreen State College, please visit the U.S. News & World Report rankings:

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/wstlibs/wstliba2.htm

I won't go into the academic offerings at Evergreen or the campus environment. The Evergreen Web site is quite comprehensive and factual. I just implore you not to judge the school by the ludicrous description offered here. Dig a little deeper. It's worth it.




Recommended: Yes