On 6 December 2009 Rick Froman wrote: >In a search to find evidence of a liberal arts college changing >building names inspired by Harry Potter, I found that Oxford >University, of all places, had done just such a thing: > http://tinyurl.com/yg25x46
Well, not quite. Students at one of the Oxford Colleges have voted to rename their Junior Common Room Gryffindor in honour of the Harry Potter house. Not exactly a University decision, more like student hi-jinks. After all, how many students were going to be so stuffy as to oppose such a motion? Anyway, it won't happen: "However, it is unlikely that the 550-year-old college will make the change as the fellows must approve it. A student also said they did not expect to get permission to use the name. "Laurence Mills, outgoing president of the JCR, said: 'They did technically vote for the name, but legally I don't think we can do it as I believe the name's owned by Warner Brothers. The change would also have to be ratified by the fellows of Magdalen College and I can't imagine them ever agreeing to it.' "Matthew Shribman, who voted for the change, said: 'It is a joke, but at the same time, the Magdalen College JCR is currently called Gryffindor, since the motion ran and passed fully legitimately'." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8378458.st Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London http://www.esterson.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------ From: Rick Froman <rfro...@jbu.edu> Subject: RE: When Metaphors Fail Date: Sun, 6 Dec 2009 19:46:28 -0600 Bil Scott doubted that any college-touring high school student would encounter multiple allusions to Harry Potter. I am much more credulous for the following reasons: You can confirm the Middlebury allusion easily by searching their website for Quidditch. What is really sad is that there is an Intercollegiate Quidditch Association: http://www.collegequidditch.com/ Doing the Harvard search: hogwarts site:harvard.edu brings up 98 hits including the fact that JK Rowling spoke at their commencement. Doesn't seem like a stretch that Hogwarts might come up in an Admissions pitch. In a search to find evidence of a liberal arts college changing building names inspired by Harry Potter, I found that Oxford University, of all places, had done just such a thing: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/6645309/Oxford-University-changes-common-room-name-to-Harry-Potters-Gryffindor.html It is not difficult to believe any other college following Oxford's lead. I can easily imagine an Admissions counselor mentioning that a famous person such as Emma Watson was considering attending. The Cornell reference in the Quarterly magazine is confirmed here: http://ezramagazine.cornell.edu/Essentials.html and the college website that listed Cornell as being similar to Hogwarts at Applywise.com. Unlike what the author said, it wasn't only because of its location that it was named one of the top 5 most similar to Hogwarts. In addition to its location, it was also due to "physical appearance, residential community, academic rigor, extracurricular opportunities and unique traditions." Also listed was the architecture and long winters. My conclusion is that I have no reason to douhbt this story. Rick Dr. Rick Froman, Chair Division of Humanities and Social Sciences John Brown University Siloam Springs, AR 72761 rfro...@jbu.edu ________________________________________________________________________ Don't let your email address define you - Define yourself at http://www.tunome.com today! --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly (bsouthe...@frostburg.edu)
