Virginia Smith, Vassar president from 1977-1986, passes away at 87

Virginia Smith, Vassar's president from 1977-1986, passed away last week at 87. A leader in higher education, she worked to expand access to Vassar by recruiting heavily from community colleges and low-income students. She dramatically increased the College's endowment, leading a $100 million fundraising effort. The New York Times published her obituary this morning. Catharine Hill, the College's current president, said the following of Smith:

“Virginia Smith led Vassar College during important years of its development into an exceptional coeducational institution. Her leadership of an extraordinary fundraising program to strengthen the institution and her innovative support of expanded access to liberal arts education were among the important accomplishments of her presidency, on which Vassar continues to build today."

A great personal tidbit from the Times obituary was that Smith was chosen to lead Vassar from over 450 candidates. When asked why she had been selected, she replied matter-of-factly, “Because I was the best qualified.” Her confidence and leadership will surely be missed by all Brewers, past and present, as we move into Vassar's sesquicentennial year.

Vassar alumnus Justin Long stars in Going the Distance

Justin Long, a member of the Class of 2000, is staring opposite Drew Barrymore in Going the Distance. He and Barrymore have been dating on and off since 2007. In a strong review, The New York Times praised the movie as "insightful and charming."

Long studied in the Film Department at Vassar and did improv in the student comedy troupe LaughingStock. A rising Hollywood star, he's been in hits such as Galaxy Quest, Live Free or Die Hard, Funny People, Youth in Revolt, and He's Just Not that Into You. Long is also well-known for portraying the cool and youthful Mac in Apple's famed "Hello, I'm a Mac" ad campaign, opposite the stodgy PC John Hodgman (of The Daily Show).

Here's the official Going the Distance trailer in HD. Be sure to check out the movie with your friends and remind them that he's a Brewer!

Paintings of historic Vassar buildings arrive in All-Campus Dining Center

Next time you're grabbing dinner in the All-Campus Dining Center, be sure to check out ten stunning oil paintings of historic Vassar buildings. Vassar is renowned for having one of the world's most beautiful collegiate campuses, with architectural styles ranging from Georgian to Gothic Revival to Modern. These oil paintings, hung in honor of the College's 150th Anniversary in 2011, commemorate some of the campus's most magical places and spaces. Below, here's a glimpse of Rockefeller Hall and Skinner Hall:

View all of the paintings on Flickr.

Vassar men dominate New York politics

Two Vassar men are preparing to dominate New York politics—Rick Lazio '80 and Eric Dinallo '85, who are running for Governor and Attorney General respectively.

Here's a quick rundown of each Brewer:

Rick Lazio majored in Political Science at Vassar, before attending law school at American University in Washington, D.C.. Mr. Lazio has forged an incredibly successful career in both the public and private sectors. He served as Executive Vice President of J.P. Morgan (one of the world's largest financial institutions) and then served four terms in Congress from 1993-2001 representing New York's 2nd District. A Republican, his platform focuses on reducing government waste, controlling the State budget, and increasing Albany's efficiency. Albany has been notoriously gridlocked for the past two years, a trend Mr. Lazio hopes to reverse. During his time at Vassar, he was a reporter for The Miscellany News and Vice President of the student government.


Eric Dinallo majored in Philosophy at Vassar, and then earned his M.A. in public policy from Duke University and his J.D. from New York University School of Law. A Democratic candidate, his campaign focuses on fighting corruption, particularly in the financial sector, on the heals of the recession and several Ponzi schemes. Coincidentally, Cardozo Law just hosted a debate of all the Democratic Attorney General candidates, where I got to see Mr. Dinallo in person. He was easily the most eloquent candidate, and presented a real vision for the justice system in New York. Mr. Dinallo faces a primary against several other Democrats, in advance of the November elections.


Good luck to both men this election season! Brewers play to win.

Class of 2014 is the most selective in Vassar's history

Congratulations to the 666 members of the entering Class of 2014, who will arrive on campus in just a couple days! 2014 is the most selective and academically elite class in Vassar's 150-year history. Their average GPA's range between an A- and A, and their SATs (Critical Reading, Mathematics, and Writing) average between 680 and 700.

It's a running joke that most alumni, if they applied to Vassar these days, couldn't get in. Indeed, nearly 80 percent of applicants are rejected, with more and more applying each year (nearly 8,000 this year). It's a scary time to be an applicant. But the reward is well worth it: the best, most enriching four years of your life at one of the country's greatest liberal arts colleges.

Read more about the astoundingly brilliant Class of 2014. And best of luck to the forthcoming Class of 2015... They'll need it!

Follow the Vassar Student Association (VSA) on Twitter!

Want to keep track of daily life at Vassar? Follow the Vassar Student Association (VSA) -- Vassar's student government -- on Twitter. This brand new Twitter page will keep you up-to-date on official Vassar happenings. The elected representatives on the VSA are responsible for virtually all student activities on campus, from lectures and conferences to concerts and movie screenings. Learn more about the student government on the VSA's Web site!

Craving more #Vassarsocialmedia? Here's a list of Vassar's many information sources, including newsletters, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.

Rankings fever

At the end of every summer, dozens of magazines and Web sites launch their "authoritative" rankings of America's best colleges and universities. There are literally thousands of colleges in the United States, and ranking them consistently is no simple task. Fortunately, no matter where you look, Vassar appears towards the top of the list.

Here are some of the highlights:

U.S. News & World Report: 12th

U.S. News & World Report (High School Counselors Ranking): 6th

Forbes Magazine: 23rd (including both colleges & research universities)

Princeton Review: 10th Most Beautiful Campus

Princeton Review: 9th Best College Theater Program

How precise, reliable, and trustworthy are all these various rankings? Well, many critics point out that ranking colleges is sort of like ranking music -- one's experience is so subjective that 'ranking' them seems irrelevant. I know plenty of miserable, slow-witted people who attend the top 20 national universities on U.S. News, and I know many really brilliant, happy and driven people who attend schools with lower rankings. College rankings are not determinative of your experience. Any school will be entirely what you make of it.

That said, many of these rankings are based on important, objective data -- for example, graduation rates, student/faculty ratios, and endowment size. (For the record, Vassar has a very high graduation rate, nearly 300 faculty, and a very large endowment). To look at one number in depth, consider the freshmen retention rate. This number is the percentage of freshmen who return the following year -- it's a pretty good indicator of student satisfaction. Here, Vassar ranks 10th in the nation with 95.8% of our freshmen returning as sophomores. In this category, we crushed schools like Wesleyan, Haverford, Middlebury and Wellesley. Now consider what U.S. News calls the "Best Value" schools -- the colleges with the greatest percentage of discounted tuition through generous financial aid packages. Here, Vassar also ranks toward the top, again beating out Wesleyan, Haverford, Middlebury, Wellesley and Carleton, to name a few. Surely, these data are important facts to consider when selecting a college.

In short, rankings have many pros and cons. You should always take them with a grain of salt and look carefully at their methodology. But it's reassuring to know that -- across many years and across many methodologies -- Vassar is consistently leading the pack.

Incidentally, my friends and I are crossing our fingers that Vassar will break into the Top Ten on U.S. News next year for the College's 150th anniversary. We're so close. We know Vassar should be there. Next year, it will be.

New York Times profiles Rachel Simmons, Vassar Class of 1996

Today's New York Times featured an extensive profile of Rachel Simmons, Vassar Class of 1996. Simmons, a Political Science major at Vassar, graduated Phi Beta Kappa and won a Rhodes Scholarship (one of only 32 Americans that year) to attend graduate school at Oxford University. She was also editor of The Miscellany News, Vassar's student newspaper since 1866.

The Times profile discusses her incredible career -- first as an Urban Fellow in Mayor Giuliani's administration in New York City, then as Deputy Finance Director to Senator (then Congressman) Charles Schumer. Since then, Simmons has achieved fame in educational circles for her books and workshops on adolescent development. The article focuses on her Girls Leadership Institute, a "camplike" program aimed at boosting confidence and leadership in young women.

Finance, politics, education, publishing -- quite the renaissance student. The epitome of Vassar.