Is Channel 2’s Emily Rooney Embarrassed by Her Wellesley College Program?

Can’t Deny What She Said

May 2001

A caller politely asked Emily Rooney, when she was on talk radio with Margery Eagan last month, about her comment concerning our article titled, “Channel 2 Approves of Sex at Wellesley.”

Rooney was obviously flustered and would not discuss what occurred on her show on Channel 2. She merely became hostile to the caller and said words to the effect: “That’s the problem with this Internet stuff. They probably never even heard the show.”

Therefore, we are publishing a complete transcript of the segment in which Rooney tried to become “one of the boys” and join with her four male guests in raucous laughter about the sex that occurs at Wellesley.

(It’s interesting that the Wellesley students whose voices were used on Rooney’s show appear to agree that strange things are allowed by the adults at Wellesley College nowadays. Those students appeared to be upset because people may think that they are involved in them.

Voice of Announcer: For our feature story about Mating and Dating Habits at Wellesley College. . . According to the piece, Wellesley students, professors, security guards and cafeteria workers are all up for grabs, so to speak, in a sort of sexual swap meet. . . . Leaving the distinct impression that Wellesley is a satellite campus of the University of Gomorrah.

Voice of Unidentified student #1: The article implies that the activities that are mentioned in the article are widespread at Wellesley and somehow unique to women’s colleges and neither of those things are true.

Voice of Announcer: Wellesley officials clearly are not amused. President Diana Chapman Walsh said in a statement: “I am confident that readers of this deplorable article will recognize it for the immature and offensive piece of reckless journalism that it is.” Wellesley students were left equally stone-faced by the article.

Voice of Unidentified student #2: I am quite offended by it. I know that some things in the article, some things do go on. First of all I found it disrespectful-that I didn’t like the use of the pictures.

Voice of Unidentified student #3: I was repulsed and disgusted and I think it is really sad that this whole intellectual community can be belittled by something so very untrue.

Voice of Announcer: But author Jay Dixit told Greater Boston, “I tried to shed light on Wellesley’s unique sexual climate. In my opinion, Wellesley’s open, accepting and tolerant sexual atmosphere is a healthy and positive thing.” Well that kind of talk doesn’t help at all. Meanwhile, Wellesley’s Mary Ann Hill has a time-tested response to the article.

Mary Ann Hill, Director of Public Relations for Wellesley College: It really reflects more poorly on Rolling Stone Magazine than it reflects on Wellesley.

Announcer: Boy, if that doesn’t take you back to your school days nothing will.

Emily Rooney: How did it strike you, Howard?

Howard: I don-I don’t know. I mean sex in college. Please I am falling asleep here. I mean, it just it-if Wellesley didn’t make a stink about this, no one would have read the story. I mean-I just don’t think there’s anything there to be up in arms about and I read the story and it just-I don’t know.

Emily Rooney: They had these pictures that were 5 or 6 years old and it was just every tried true clich in the book, and it was-And it changed the names.

Unknown male voice: I was shocked. [Laughing by all] Finding sex going on on a college campus, but actually I was saddened also [laughing by Emily] because, because the report in the magazine suggested that some of these college girls were chasing their professors.

Emily Rooney, interrupting: Yeh!

Unknown male voice, continuing: And I am clearly at the wrong university. [Laughing by Emily]

Emily Rooney: You know that was one of the things that annoyed me. They kept suggesting that somehow the women at Wellesley were brighter and more wily and knew how to get the man by bumping into the professor in the hallway.

Unknown male voice: I was only an adjunct professor in my time, so that doesn’t happen to people who are part-timers in college. I think that the biggest problem is the thing that you talked about. He used some real names, he used some phony names and you can’t tell who’s who and you don’t know who’s reliable, and who’s not. And I think that he took a couple of situations and made them the campus wide standard and I think that you can go to any campus and find, you know, people frolicking around with security guards and cafeteria workers. And I don’t think that is unique to Wellesley and I think that he generalized it too much, probably.

Unknown male voice: I generally only pick up Rolling Stone when a new Bob Dillon album comes up. Maybe I’ve been making a mistake, although the way you are all describing the article maybe I am not making a mistake.

Emily Rooney: I didn’t even know how to describe the Rolling Stone Magazine when I was putting this thing together. I mean, what are they anymore? I mean, I don’t even know. No one knows. Alright.