Brown Celebrities…In Their Own Right
Krasinski and Bowen are national celebrities, but some figures are Brown celebrities in their own right. Check out this list of folks who are treasured uniquely by our community:
#1: Ruth Simmons
At the inauguration this weekend, the applause for Ruth was louder than Paxson’s. Ruth Simmons is more than a former President: she is a Brunonian icon, an image of everything that we love about our University. (How many of you own a t-shirt with her face on it?) In May, the dance community organized a flash mob in honor of Ruth, choreographed to Beyoncé’s “End of Time”. If that doesn’t speak to her fame, what does?
#2: Wyclef Jean
Fellow Brunonians who are juniors or seniors: how many of you remember Spring Weekend 2011? That’s right, if you were at the Diddy concert, you remember how Wyclef Jean saved the day. A celebrity across the country, Jean came to Brown as a visiting fellow for the 2010-2011 academic year. Famous for his rap career and as a Haitian political activist, Jean rose to Brunonian fame as an artist and professor in the Africana Studies department.
#3: Arnold Weinstein
Alright, so the Comp Lit concentrator in me might be coming out here- but how many of you are familiar with Professor Arnold Weinstein? Ever tried to make an appointment to come to office hours- and been appalled that you had to make it two weeks in advance? (I was.) The leading authority on Faulkner in the United States today, Weinstein has been teaching at Brown since 1968. Look out for classes like “The Fiction of Relationship”, “Scandinavian Literature”, and “City in the Arts”. Be prepared for lecture halls bursting at the seams. And unless you are a senior concentrator, you can forget about being in his section.