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Overview of Brown University in popular culture
Brown University is a privateresearch university in Providence, Rhode Island. Like other members of the Ivy League, it is known for prestige, academic rigor and selective undergraduate admissions process. Among its peers, Brown is noted for a culture of campus activism and longstanding commitment to academic and intellectual freedom exemplified by its Open Curriculum and course "shopping period." The university has been described as the "progressive Ivy," "hip Ivy," and "creative Ivy."
Brown is consistently referenced in popular culture, including in works of cinema, television, music, and the written word.
Faculty
Josiah Carberry – Professor of Psychoceramics (the study of cracked pots), who was created as a joke in 1929 and who has become a tradition at Brown. On every Friday the 13th, cracked pots are left around the Brown campus for students to deposit their pocket change. The money goes to support the Brown University library. Traditionally, Brown alums everywhere send their pocket change to the library on Friday the 13th. There is an organization of alums called "Friends of Josiah" that meets for dinner on the Brown campus on Friday the 13th.
The 1924 novel The Plastic Age by Brown professor Percy Marks depicted a thinly disguised version of Brown. The novel depicted or suggested a campus of hazing, smoking, drinking, partying, and "petting." The book was the second best-selling novel of 1924, and turned into a film of the same name.The 1924 novel The Plastic Age is set at a university widely believed to be a stand-in for Brown
Marina Thwaite, Danielle Minkoff and Julian Clarke, characters from Claire Messud's 2006 novel The Emperor's Children, were all friends at Brown University.
David Foster Wallace's novel Infinite Jest includes a description of a ludicrously botched attempt to fix a Brown–Yale basketball game, which has consequences for main character Don Gately. The character Geoffrey Day graduated magna cum laude from Brown, where he experienced an episode of depression in his second year.
In H. P. Lovecraft's short story ''The Call of Cthulhu" (1926), the narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston, writes that his grandfather, George Gammell Angell, was "Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages in Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island."
Film and television
Nathan Huffner (Rick Moranis) wears a Brown University T-shirt in the 1989 movie Parenthood
The Sopranos: Season 2 episode "The Happy Wanderer" begins with a Brown admission officer's visit to Meadow's high school; he notes that "admission is extremely selective"
Sean Alvarez (played by Andre DaSilva), honest stock broker and murder victim on Law & Order, 2000 episode "Trade This" (season 11), produced by Jeffrey L. Hayes, Brown '66.
Sabrina Anderson / Sabrina Jordan (played by Spencer Locke) – young woman held hostage during a robbery who, as a result, must enter witness protection and will not be able to go to Brown where her old friends will recognize her, on In Plain Sight – 2010 (season 3) episode "WitSec Stepmother"
Sam Arsenault (played by James Naughton, Brown '67) – guest villain on Damages (2006–7). In one episode, he sings Danny Boy at a cocktail party, telling the guests he sang it with the Jabberwocks when he was an undergraduate student at Brown. Jim was, in fact, a member of the Jabberwocks when he was an undergraduate at Brown.
Ann August (played by Natalie Portman) – central character in Anywhere but Here; daughter of Adele August (played by Susan Sarandon). Ann applies and is accepted to Brown, much to her mother's dismay over the distance.
Guinevere Beck (played by Elizabeth Lail) – Central character on You, an MFA student who went to Brown for her undergraduate education
In BoJack Horsemanseason 2, film director Kelsey Jannings is quoted as saying, of her daughter Irving: “Indie darling daughters don’t go to Brown, okay? They end up at cute, little pat-on-the-back factories like Vassar, and then they move back in with their indie darling mothers and make weird puppet shows with their tampons and get a profile in New York Magazine, and the horrible cycle continues.”
Brian Griffin (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) – erudite, alcoholic dog from the animated television series Family Guy; dropped out one class short of graduating; re-enrolls and fails in the episode "Brian Goes Back to College". During the episode, Stewie Griffin (also voiced by MacFarlane) lives in the dorm with Brian.
Lucy Kelson (played by Sandra Bullock) – protagonist of Two Weeks Notice is a liberal lawyer who specializes in environmental law in New York City and is hired by an immature billionaire who needs a Chief Counsel who not only will file briefs but help with every little aspect of his life. She and Meryl Brooks (played by Heather Burns) have known each other since "Brownie days."
Jonathan "Mox" Moxon (played by James Van Der Beek) – main character of the film Varsity Blues; this tormented replacement quarterback for his small-town Texas high school football team must devote himself to football and become a hero; receives acceptance to Brown, but his coach blackmails him to play football by threatening to ruin his transcript
Julianne Potter (played by Julia Roberts) – main character of the film My Best Friend's Wedding and her "best friend" Michael O'Neal (played by Dermot Mulroney), who met and made their marriage pact while attending Brown
Jaye Tyler (played by Caroline Dhavernas) – snarky souvenir store clerk and main character of the television series Wonderfalls, who studied philosophy at Brown
Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody) and his girlfriend Summer Roberts (played by Rachel Bilson) – in the television series The O.C. both applied to Brown and had interviews with the admissions officer from Brown. In a few episodes, both were seen competing to gain more extracurricular activities to add to their C.V. hopefully to increase their chances to Brown. Ultimately however, Seth was rejected and Summer was accepted. Summer enrolls but is suspended for one year following her first semester after she freed rabbits in a science laboratory, and fellow student Winchester "Che" Cook (Chris Pratt) falsely accused her of other acts. Summer eventually returned to Brown and graduated.
Linda (played by Marisa Tomei) and Andrew (played by Allen Covert) are Brown alums in the movie Anger Management. Linda is Adam Sandler's girlfriend, and Andrew has been Linda's best friend since they dated at Brown. Andrew emasculates Sandler by forcing him to admit that he attended Trenton Community College, asking "where did you go to school again?" In another scene, Andrew tells Linda that "I rented out the entire sports bar. I thought it would be fun if it was just us Brown alums." He also tries to drum up their old romance by saying, "Do you remember back at Brown when we went up to see the Red Sox game?" In the movie, Sandler describes a Red Sox bra as "represent everything that I hate." Jack Nicholson, whose character went to Columbia University, reinforces the New York v. New England/Brown motif when he tells Sandler "Andrew is gonna try and recreate those hotsy-totsy nights up at Brown U."
Bill Buchanan from the TV series 24 has an English degree from Brown.
In the CW TV show Gossip Girl episode "Poison Ivy", Serena van der Woodsen's (Blake Lively) mother attended Brown University. Her father went to Harvard University. Serena herself applies and is accepted to Brown, though she ultimately does not attend.
Christine Everhart (played by Leslie Bibb), 2008 Iron Man film: a Vanity Fair columnist who questions and interrogates Stark about his weapons industry, claiming that his company is killing people. Stark asks if she attended Berkeley, but she corrects him and says "Brown, actually." Later, she appears again, to tell Stark of the Ten Rings in Gulmira and at the end, suspecting Stark of being Iron Man.
In Hamlet 2, the main character, a drama teacher, assumes a Latino student is a gangster. In actuality, his father is an accomplished author and he gained early admission to Brown.
Nora Clark (played by Jenna Dewan) – in the movie Step Up, Nora reveals to Tyler Gage (played by Channing Tatum) that she had been accepted to Brown University, but tells him she does not want to go and wants to pursue her passion for dancing instead.
Nell Kellner (played by Tricia Vessey) – in the movie Coming Soon, Nell gets accepted to Brown University at the end of the film when she reveals that her father had donated a large sum of money to the school.
Donna Keppel (played by Brittany Snow) – protagonist of the movie Prom Night was accepted to Brown, but has doubts of going because of being separated from her boyfriend.
Courtney, April and Monica – in the movie Ninja Cheerleaders, Courtney (played by Trishelle Cannatella), April (played by Ginny Weirick) and Monica (played by Maitland McConnell) get accepted to Brown and attend the school at the end of the film.
Jane Weston (played by Amy Smart) – in the movie Outside Providence, Jane gets accepted to Brown University and attends the school at the end of the film.
Nick Lipton (played by Zach Braff, making his feature film debut) in the movie Manhattan Murder Mystery, is the son of protagonists Larry Lipton (played by Woody Allen) and Carol Lipton (played by Diane Keaton), and makes a brief appearance when he visits his parents over a college break.
Sophie Hall (played by Amanda Seyfried) – in the movie Letters to Juliet, Sophie tells Charlie Wyman, played by Chris Egan, that she went to Brown and she double majored with a minor in Latin (Brown does not offer minors, only concentrations).
Turanga Munda, the mother of the character Turanga Leela in Futurama, has a degree in exolinguistics from Brown In the episode Zapp Dingbat, it was stated that Leela's father Morris also attended the University.
In The Skinny, four Black gay males meet up again in New York City. All are graduates of Brown University. The film was directed by Patrick-Ian Polk.
Clay Jensen (played by Dylan Minnette) – in the teen drama web television 13 Reasons Why Season 4, Clay had interviews with the admissions officer from Brown and was accepted. He will go to Brown university after graduating from Liberty High School.Clay Jensen in 13 Reasons Why plans to attend Brown after graduating from high school
In “Endless Love”, the character Jade Butterfield, plans on attending Brown. It is also assumed that her late brother, Christopher, did as well.
Meg Griffin (voiced by Mila Kunis), a character in Family Guy, gets expelled from Brown University after it is discovered her application was forged, in the episode Meg Goes to College
Max Goodwin (played by Ryan Eggold) in the television series New Amsterdam, is a Brown alum. After disparaging members of the hospital's board for going to Harvard, another character asks where he went to school. He says he attended Brown, but quickly defends it as the "liberal Ivy." He also wears a Brown sweatshirt on multiple occasions throughout the series.
Shauna Shipman (Sophie Nélisse and Melanie Lynskey) in Yellowjackets; Shauna was set to attend Brown under their Early Decision program before getting involved in a plane crash that leaves her stranded in the wilderness.
Music
In the song Some Other Me from the musical If/Then, Elizabeth sings "And I didn't go to Vassar, but to Smith, or Yale, or Brown"
In his 2021 charity single American Dream,Will.i.am sings "Yeah, they call me a dreamer / But now I'm going to Brown University"
Other
The 2012 visual novel Katawa Shoujo takes place at the fictional Yamaku Academy, the design of which is directly taken from Brown University.
References
Amanda Katzaug, "In Providence", New York Times, August 22, 2014. Accessed April 29, 2018.
^ Eliza Lane, "Brown alums pay homage to alma mater on the big screen", Brown Daily Herald, February 28, 2005. Accessed July 27, 2017. "An extensive list of TV shows feature alleged alums, including “The Simpsons,” in which burnt-out bus driver Otto Mann is an alum; “Will & Grace,” in which the title characters met during their time together at Brown; and “24,” the dramatic action series featuring a character who, according to the show’s official website, allegedly received a master of arts degree – with a specialization in public policy – from Brown."
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