According to numerous accounts, Charlie Zabrowski was an eccentric man. A professor of classics at Gettysburg College, Zabrowski insisted on teaching clad in his tattered academic robe, three-piece suit, and pocket watch (which was apparently broken).

Over at Philosophers' Playground, Steve Gimbel, an associate professor of philosophy at Gettysburg College, laments Zabrowski's recent death and wonders whether academe is any longer hospitable to eccentric souls. Gimbel writes: Has the whole academy become so managed, so rigorous, so professionalized that the one place where one could actually be extremely strange and be comfortable that way been lost?... "The tenure and promotion process now focuses so much on research and publication that it forces hires that are safe. Can there be eccentric professors anymore?"

One commenter notes: "I think you may encounter more eccentricity at the higher levels of academia, where people's achievements give them more slack to be unconventional. At a second-or third-tier school, where teaching is a much more important component of life, there's less room to be 'off-the-charts' in academic achievement or eccentricity."