The University of Richmond Collegian 09/22/94

Staff Editorial

by Jeffrey Carl, Opinion Editor

What We Think

an Opinion from the Collegian Staff

“We’re Number one?”

Well, we’re number one.

Aren’t we?

The entire University administration has gone crazy as a football bat over the University of Richmond’s elevation to number one in the “U.S. News and World Report” rankings of Southern regional colleges. It’s an impressive feat indeed, and one that is worth celebrating.

But perhaps the taste of victory is not as sweet as it might be. For the past several years, the University of Richmond has always played bridesmaid on the list to Wake Forest, and our perennial rival has been elevated to the rankings of national colleges this year – or, as some call it, the “real colleges” list.

That the University of Richmond is a first-class school is something we already knew. But its new number one ranking is still a little hollow – like winning the Little League World Series.

UR is a very good school – a beautiful campus, dedicated faculty, low student-teacher ratios, up-and-coming students and a fantastic student newspaper – but the fact that we still aren’t quite “playing with the big boys” is a little disappointing. And with the quality of our school – except for the dining hall food and the football team’s record – we should be striving for national recognition and status.

The University is taking steps to get us to run with the big dogs, so to speak. The new Fine Arts Center, the increasingly impressive academics of each year’s freshman class, events like the presidential debate and the Jepson School of Leadership Studies (if it can ever get its act together) are all initiatives designed to take the school to a higher plane.

On one hand, this is not the place for us to rest on our laurels, nor for us to become content for long. On the other hand, this is the place for us to begin making fun of other Southern colleges, and rub it in while we’ve got the chance. So, to everyone else in our category, we say a fond “ha ha.”

We should be happy with our new status in the esteemed “U.S. News” list, but it should also serve as a reminder that the University is only stopping here on its way, we hope, to something better.