Podcast Proposal: Oxford College

As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, Oxford College is a very interesting place. There are both upsides and downsides to attending the two-year campus while at Emory. As someone who did decide to spend both freshman and sophomore year down the highway, I can tell you that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Aside from these conspiracies (all of which mentioned in this script are real theories that I have been exposed to), Oxford definitely has a lot of negative effects on its students. Just in the two years that I was there, students started diluted liquid Xanax and injecting into their blood streams. Two years before my time, Atlanta’s premier drug lord was an Oxford student – complete with an FBI raid and a flee from the country. Oxford has issues, to say the least, and while this conspiracy theory detective story will captivate the listener, the host will take them on a journey to uncover the real issues that arise at a campus like Oxford’s. To give you a sneak peek: it’s been referred to as the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Script:

How much do you know about Oxford College of Emory University? That it was the birth place of Emory? That it was founded in 1836? That it now houses around one thousand seemingly happy students? From a distance, all of these things are true.

Oxford College is a two-year undergraduate experience that gives a handful of first and second year Emory University students the chance to learn in a close-knit, liberal arts environment. There is a focus on small class sizes, intimate student to professor relationships, and hands on learning. But what is outside the area of focus? What is on the outskirts of the lens and what doesn’t the camera see at all?

Oxford’s relationship with Emory is the only one of its kind in the United States; there are no other schools like it in the entire nation. This has to create some kind of tension. There must be something going on behind the scenes that underlies this veil of perfection. Two years in this specialized environment and then a seamless transition onto the big research campus? It sounds too good to be true.

And according to some, it is. There are rumors of a corrupt administration, secret societies, and underground tunnels. I’ve heard stories from those who are sure that it’s all just conspiracy and I’ve heard whispers from people who claim to have had first hand experiences with some of these hushed traditions.

I’ve heard stories about the campus but I want to know more. Who are the people who inhabit Oxford? How real are these conspiracy theories? And how do they effect everyone in this environment? Suspicious or not, Oxford is an institution for learning. If these myths are real, then they must be intertwined somehow with the education that these students are getting.

Higher learning in this country can be questionable with or without ghosts in the silent study hall or hidden microphones in the dorm rooms. But I can imagine these things wouldn’t make student life any easier. Could this be a dangerous environment for our budding adults? Is any of it real? If either of those answers are yes, what can we do about any of it?

That’s what I am going to find out. I’ll take a trip to the Oxford campus and spend a day as one of the students. I’ll go to their classes, eat in their dining hall, sleep in their dorms. I want to see what a day in the life is like at Oxford. I’ll see it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

As Americans, we have seen all to clearly what can happen when power goes unchecked. Or even what can happen when power is checked by the wrong people. Ever heard of the phrase “The animals run the zoo?” Some people at Oxford have. For their safety, I will change the names of the people I meet while at Oxford. They will remain anonymous because I can already tell you that if these conspiracy theories do actually pan out, there could be some names on the chopping block.