Randolph (-Macon Woman's) College

Well I survived a bumpy carnival ride prop plane ride into a windy Lynchburg, Virginia this afternoon. Drove my rented Ford Focus (electric blue) to what is now being called Randolph College. I'm using an internet kiosk and there are a number of young women watching a huge screen tv law and order episode and they all just laughed out loud. It's a bit strange. The men on campus are either security or faculty and the faculty are not here now. After my screening i got the scoop on why the women here went on strike for 5 days after the decision was made to go coed. There seems to be a feeling that a special and unique kind of club is being destroyed. Rituals like the Pumpkin parade, the ring week and the daisy chain will all be awkward for the dudes. Though i can't imagine a very macho crowd that would be willing to be the first men in a woman's college. Seems like it worked out well for Vassar but maybe there are other examples where the men dragged down the standards a bit. I had imagined (and was told to expect) a kind of dying feudal aristocratic horse culture. It doesn't really like that much. It kind of seems like a liberally haven of some kind like Kenyon only a bit Southern but the good Southern, the writer Southern not the Jerry Falwell Southern which is right up the road at Liberty University. Apparently some of the dudes at that fundamentalist university made horror films. I was surprised but people say not everybody there is hard-core christian. It's cheap. The room i'm in is very nice. A strange chemical floral scent forced me to open the window so it might be a bit chilly when i get back. Good q and a with the movie tonight. Jennifer the film prof is great. Loads of energy. I hope the move to coed get the enrollment up and i hope the dudes are cool walking with jack-o-lanterns at night. More time in the Charlotte airport tomorrow. Free wifi which is cool and rocking chairs but so far two of my four flights in and out of there have been delayed. Better luck tomorrow. Trying to avoid the TV: the virginia tech massacre is compelling coverage. People here don't seem (that I can see) any closer to it than anywhere else in the US but i'm limited obviously. Over...