The motto for The University of Western Ontario is “Major in Yourself,” yet many UWO students are being stigmatized for doing just that. Increasingly, Western University is gaining a negative reputation among local communities and rival schools due to its supposed vanity and elitism.
As students that live, work, and study in London, our stigma often does not become apparent until we leave what many affectionately refer to as “The Western Bubble.” An experience I’m sure that many of us share would be returning to our hometowns after exams or for summer break and having any changes in appearance or behavior being attributed to our university’s influence. When I returned home after first year, my hair dyed a lighter shade of blonde; I was immediately told that I looked like a typical Western girl. Not only was I unaware of what being a “Western girl” meant, I was naïve to why this was negative.
Conceitedness, superficiality, and snobbery- just to name a few- are traits that have been unfairly imposed on Western students. I may not agree with society’s characterization of Western as a deviant school, but that does not mean there is no truth behind some of the stereotypes. Yes, I’m sure you could find students at UWO that fit these traits, as you could also find on any other campus. No, shockingly, not all Western students are the same.
So how does a top-ranking University (see MacLean’s yearly survey) with a high student satisfaction rate accumulate such widespread dislike from other students and other people in general? I can remember being younger and excited to tell people that I would one day attend UWO. Often I was simply brushed off with remarks of “Oh, that party school? Have fun.” Western has a great academic record and is one of the top research schools in Canada, yet the partying is all that is ever focused on. Life is about finding a balance, UWO students will continue to study hard AND party hard.
I have always found the sheer amount of schools that identify Western as their main rival to be interesting. At Western, we recognize Queen’s University as our sole rival so I was surprised when I first learned that Laurier, Windsor, and Ryerson all considered Western to be their enemy. It appears that other schools have banded together over common ground; their disdain for Western. Queen’s University even coined the phrase “Wuck Festern,” that was adopted among other Ontario Universities for cheers, clothes, and homecoming signs.
When choosing this topic, I questioned several friends to see if they too had felt the prejudice from attending UWO. All agreed that they understood what I was talking about and had also been singled out for their choice of educational institution. It is still unclear exactly what makes Western such a target for other schools, but to say the very least; attending Western is a unique experience. As UWO students, we are bonded through school pride and the unifying experience of being universally mislabeled. With all sources of pride, whether it be your university or your talents, prejudice is sure to follow and it will always be impossible to please everyone. Continue doing your thing Mustangs.