so, bear with me on an idea here re: ND as "special"

by Mike (bart), Wednesday, October 12, 2016, 09:57 (2775 days ago) @ Greg

I think you're right on in that a place where you go during the becoming stage of adulthood that is full of inquiry and fun and the discovery of amazing people, etc. will always hold a special place in your heart, etc. is good and natural. I also think that's more of a "The 'Ol Alma Mater" point that's transferable to any number of university experiences.

In my experience, ND also holds its own experience as superior to others, or at least holds it as non-fungible. I think that was a very useful attitude during the period of becoming the institution itself had: the transformation from a small, regional liberal arts Catholic school to a world-significant Catholic university. I think a large part of the benefit there, though, comes from the galvanizing, aspirational effect of trying to attack and grow and make yourself into something exceptional. "We don't have all those things that 'Big Time Universities' have, but that doesn't matter because we have an indomitable spirit" wears very well for a school that, well, doesn't have all those things that 'Big Time Universities' have.

Now we do have all those things, though. It seems like that "magic" point is ill-fitting, not as useful, and forced. Not that I'm prescribing any type of ordinariness or dampening of ambition, but I do think that "What Though the Odds" mystique is more of a crutch or a set piece right now, and could stand to be revisited.