They accept and they trust that Columbia is a place filled with cheery students and benevolent professors. They see the lively fountains, not hoary department heads given to peccadilloes and self-caricature. They look at the peaceful visage of Alma Mater, not the ugly face of academic infighting. They have confidence in themselves and belief in the university. These tour group members stand at a unique juncture in their lives.
Parents proudly look on their children preparing for college.
Sons and daughters breathlessly await the day when they can leave home behind and live in a community of learning. Those young people are blissfully misinformed and blithely misguided. Ignorant if not foolish and deceived if not delusional, the college-bound are a peculiar contradiction. Giddy at the prospect of gaining wisdom in college, they dutifully gobble down anything their college tour guides tell them. They are simple, and they are happy.