Red Bull has officially declared that the Harlem Shake is dead. We know, we know, this cultural sensation was sooo two weeks ago, but why not throw a send-off party for this phenomenon before it’s officially put to rest? Let’s take this time to highlight some of the Harlem Shake’s more memorable moments on Brown’s campus. When the day comes and your kids say to you, “Mom, Dad, what’s the Harlem Shake?” you can turn to Blog, open up this post, and say, “Kids, this was the Harlem Shake.” Let the videos speak for themselves.

Once the movement began infecting our seven continent planet, it, of course, made its way to Brown, inspiring some of our very own to create and post videos to YouTube. Here are a few videos that’ll give you a taste of what went on around the Brown campus in the last few weeks (after the jump).

The Jabberwocks of Brown University edition:

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With much excitement and mystery surrounding the presidential search, the University announced today the selection of Christina H. Paxson as the 19^th president of Brown. Paxson currently serves as the dean of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs and is the Hughes-Rogers Professor of Economics. According to Princeton’s website, Paxson established the Center for Health and Wellbeing at the school in 2000, a program that grants certificates in both health and health policy. In addition, Paxson serves as a senior editor of The Future of Children, a publication that derives from a collaboration between the Woodrow Wilson School and the Brookings Institution. Besides her work at Princeton, she is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and primarily focuses her research on health, economic development and public policy. Paxson graduated from Swarthmore in 1982 and received her Ph.D. from Columbia in 1987. And she’s a woman!

Ra Ra Brunonia!

We all know it, we’ve walked past it a thousand times — University Hall, the icon of Brown. If you don’t know it, it’s the huge building on the Main Green with the bell and the bricks, and you should probably stop taking the shortcut through the Leeds Breezeway. Beyond its purpose as a home for administrative and presidential goings-on, the College Edifice (its original moniker), built in 1770, can be traced back to the establishment of Brown in Providence. Once the lone behemoth on College Hill, University Hall has nestled in among the high rises and beautiful parking lots of the city, serving as a beacon of knowledge and intellect for all who make the trek up College Street.

As Brown’s first and oldest building, University Hall has seen its fair share of ups and downs over the course of the school’s nearly 250-year history. Brown was a bit lazy in its design and modeled the building after Nassau Hall at Princeton, the alma mater of Brown’s first president, Reverend James Manning. Controversy surrounds the construction of the building, as Corporation records denote the possible use of slaves in the work force. Once completed, the building held the students’ quarters, mess hall, chapel and classrooms until the construction of Hope College in 1822. It was at this time that the College Edifice was renamed University Hall. (Note: Why isn’t the word ‘edifice’ used more often? #18thcenturynostalgia #swag). [Read more →]

Green Education.

Brown took home a perfect A in college sustainability by The College Sustainability Report Card. We got A’s all around in the categories of Administration, Climate Change & Energy, Food & Recycling, Green Building, Student Involvement, Transportation, Endowment Transparency, Investment Priorities, and Shareholder Engagement. Good thing we took that ABC and not SN/C.

And just as the report was released, an email was sent out this morning announcing the 2010 Campus Conservation Competition in which dorms and students will compete to see who can conserve the most. The competition is sponsored by Residential Life, the Energy & Environmental Office of Facilities Management and the Brown EcoReps, according to the email. To get more information go to www.brownecoreps.com.