“What Counts as a Rural College?” An interesting question, and the title of a video just released by the Chronicle of Higher Education (Academe, May 8th online).
As a supplement to this valuable resource, University Life is pleased to offer its list of 11 surefire ways of identifying a rural institution of higher education:
1 — The Drama Department’s theatrical production of Cabaret is set on a 1930’s dairy farm in Buck Grove, Iowa. In the adaptation, Sally Bowles is a Catholic nun who works for 4-H as an agricultural extension agent.
2 — The shuttle-bus trip to the local shopping mall takes two-and-a-half days.
3 — During final exam periods, Therapy Hens are available in the library to provide support to stressed students.
4 — On Saturday nights, undergraduates grab a handful of Cock-a-Doodle-Doo Condoms from Health Services and head over to the campus corn maze for some heavy smooching…and maybe more.
5 — At graduation, honorary degree recipients are given a pair of Dickies Classic Bib Overalls with golden shoulder tassels.
6 — “O Pioneers!” by Willa Cather is required reading in every undergraduate course, including labs.
7 — In the dining hall, cow’s milk is squeezed directly into cereal bowls by seniors majoring in Udder Studies.
8 — The school’s most popular dating app is County Fairest, where female students on TikTok prepare a box lunch for that special fella they hope to attract.
9 — After every tornado, the folks in Buildings and Grounds spend the day “riding fences,” which involves retrieving students blown into the barbed-wire boundary that separates the campus from the grounds of the state penitentiary.
10 — Students protest Israel’s occupation of Gaza by tossing loaves of Zingerman’s Jewish Rye into the cow-pie pit next to the adjunct faculty parking lot.
11 — In Friday FanDuel, esports majors wager on the size of the next litter to be dropped by the feral cat living in the horse barn.
It’s 5:00 am. Do you know where your wheat thresher is?