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Berry College
How would we plan our trips without Wikipedia?
The Berry campus, easily the largest land mass campus in the world, consists of fields, forests, and Lavender Mountain, designated portions of which are open to the public for hiking, cycling, horse back riding, and other outdoor activities. Present throughout the campus is a large population of deer, which are estimated to outnumber students seven to one. Fishing on some of the campus' lakes and streams is permitted with proper permits. Berry also has a wealth of wild turkeys, seasonal ducks and geese, skunks, and squirrels.
And:
Berry is a college rich in heritage and campus customs are deeply rooted. The most universal custom is that of greeting everyone on campus with a smile, a wave, and a cheery “hello.” Freshmen usually become familiar with this custom on their first day and realize that much of the beauty of Berry is in this spirit of friendship which one meets everywhere.
Posted by Tyler Cowen on November 1, 2007 at 05:43 PM in Education | Permalink
Comments
Sounds mighty nice. Pity Wikipedia wasn't around in 1980 when it would have been useful college decision
making info. And 7 more years 'til my kids start getting there.
Posted by: mkl at Nov 1, 2007 6:18:52 PM
Berry College really does have a beautiful campus. I went there for a speech/debate tournament in the late 90's, just as the trees were turning colors for the fall and was really impressed.
Posted by: kennon at Nov 1, 2007 6:29:36 PM
and a 590 million dollar endowment. where is all this college endowment money coming from? personally I would never give a donation to a university's endowment fund.
Posted by: thehova at Nov 1, 2007 8:45:04 PM
Shew...I was waiting for thehova's view on university endowments. I can't remember, are contributions to one's alma mater voluntary or compulsory? Now I remember--they are voluntary and usually accompany pride and contentment in what a university has done for an individual. So very unnecessary to get on a soapbox.
I went to Sewanee which has approximately 10,000 acres. There is nothing like a Southern or NE small college with lots of land and few television viewers. I've met a few folks from Berry, and all of them are tip-top.
Posted by: Dan at Nov 1, 2007 9:01:05 PM
That sounds absolutely terrible. No, not the campus, but the "universal custom". The last thing I'd want at a college is a bunch of bunch of phonies walking around and waving at each other.
Posted by: Robert S. Porter at Nov 1, 2007 9:08:23 PM
I was an econ major at Berry a few years back and can assure you there is no such universal custom. (Although on average everyone is very friendly.)
Tyler, what brings you down to Berry?
Posted by: Paul at Nov 1, 2007 9:30:55 PM
Dan, I'm all for giving a little money to your university (the more specifically tagged the better). But not to a school's endowment. Endowments are just a useless competition for the US News rankings.
Posted by: thehova at Nov 1, 2007 10:25:26 PM
Dartmouth has 27,000 + acres and you don't have to go to school in Georgia. Plus we have our own ski mountain.
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~doc/secondcollegegrant/
Posted by: Scott at Nov 1, 2007 10:37:16 PM
"and a 590 million dollar endowment. where is all this college endowment money coming from? personally I would never give a donation to a university's endowment fund."
two crucial pickles
Posted by: GoodneesOfFit at Nov 1, 2007 10:50:42 PM
thehova, my hat is off to you for a very genial response--I was in a bad mood and was a bit ferocious. My hat is also off to MR for a such a body of grounded readers.
Sewanee also has a waving "universal custom." It's kind of like driving a Jeep, but as a pedestrian. In addition, there is an unoffical dress code, depending on major. Yes, Econ meant a tie. Forestry mandated a Phish or NOLS tee.
There's nothing like a small college experience if that's your bag, baby.
Posted by: Dan at Nov 1, 2007 11:06:40 PM
No problem Dan. And to be honest, I haven't read any studies on the effectiveness of university endowment funds. Has Tyler or Alex ever written a post on the matter?
I'm sure its a complicated matter. But my gut tells me that donations to a university's endowment are less effective than a specifically tagged donation. I believe universities try to accumulate a large endowment for prestige reasons. Plus trying to allocate resources from a large endowment sounds less effective than a more market based donation approach.
Posted by: thehova at Nov 1, 2007 11:19:45 PM
My sister went religiously nuts after her freshman year there. It's quite beautiful, but you got to wonder about a place that provides horse lodging for the beloved companions of the students.
It all evens out though, my town has its own nutso liberal arts institution, Prescott College.
And the town nearby, what's its name... ah yes, Rome. Quite a recidivist place. Or it was a quarter century ago, nowadays many visually bucolic but otherwise hardbitten small towns have largely been gentrified. We will see if you get a good meal there, other than BBQ. I have had many many good BBQ meals in small towns across GA, and yes I have been to Lockhart, just for the BBQ.
Posted by: Russell L. Carter at Nov 1, 2007 11:50:04 PM
Ahem,
Yall probably didn't believe me about the horses thing:
http://www2.berry.edu/academics/science/ans/gunby/facilities.asp
Note that this is the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences.
Posted by: Russell L. Carter at Nov 2, 2007 1:04:52 AM
I visited Berry College when I was a Senior. It was a beautiful campus, in the middle of no where. I also believe, if I am recalling this correctly, that they have the largest deer population in the state of Georgia. Several of the buildings were designed after Oxford.
Seemed like a great school, just didn't fit me.
I also need to say something about the custom of saying "hello." I don't know that its just Berry College. I went to Elon University in NC. They do that too, for the Northern students from NY or NJ it was something out of the ordinary and made them uncomfortable. Generally, you could tell who the southerners were and who the northerners were.
Posted by: Matt C. at Nov 2, 2007 9:09:46 AM
If you are there on a weekend, try Ballenger's restaurant, a few miles north of Berry in Gore. You'll have to make reservations, probably well in advance.
Posted by: Charles Oliver at Nov 2, 2007 10:34:19 AM
I've been at Berry 10+ years; peoplea are friendly and often speak but there's no "universal custom." (Washington and Lee has a speaking tradition.)
Contrary to the tone of the comment about horse boarding, the school of math and science is quite strong. The horse barn is affiliated with one of the departments in that school, but students who bring horses don't get academic credit or anything of the sort. My guess is that less than 1% of students bring horses so the boarding barn is not a defining characteristic of the institution.
Ballenger's is good but not great; it has a real quirky ambiance.
Posted by: Frank at Nov 2, 2007 1:01:47 PM
I went there just last year for a speech competition. Beautiful, beautiful campus, I loved every minute of it. We held our awards ceremony in an old church that was built by students of the university a long time ago.
Quite a walk from round to round, though...
Posted by: Martin Stieferman at Nov 5, 2007 3:04:01 PM
I was fortunate enough to attend Berry 28 years ago, although it sounds like forever ago, I feel like it was yesterday, what a great experience, I just took my daughter to look at Berry, and she too thought it was a magical place. The beauty is something I always remember and am always blown away every time I return, but it is the people,the staff,(they really do care) and the dream of Martha Berry that lives on. After sending one daughter to a large university in FL we are convinced a better education and experience can be had at a smaller school. By the way I met up with my roommate we are still very close friends.
Posted by: Laura at Mar 12, 2008 11:44:02 PM
Posted by: 鑽石 at Apr 2, 2008 11:05:31 PM
Posted by: Alii at Apr 3, 2008 9:59:22 PM
