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[king_ghidorah]

I've known a number of Ivy Leaguers (even one on my committee) and (maybe I'm just lucky) but they've been a perfectly nice lot overall. 

Adjuncthood is hard on the soul and the pocket book and the self respect, not to mention the respect of everyone else around you, including students (once the understand the situation).  So don't take it personally if the residents of Adjunctville are not as friendly to outsiders who they feel are just staying for a season and then moving on to bigger and better things (which it sounds like you are); there is just something hardwired into human nature which causes people to resent those who they feel have it better somehow. 

My humble advice would be to look for a better job and keep reminding yourself that this too shall pass. 

[spinnaker]

I'm not clear on whether the perception that the OP is moving on to bigger and better things, if it exists, comes from the facts, or the way in which they are conveyed.
On the forum people say "if I hadn't gotten this TT appointment I would not have stayed an adjunct" which I usually consider an opinion, not a fact.

I am not sure what students' attitudes about adjuncts are.

[mickeymantle]

I know how you feel in this situation.  Years ago I adjuncted at one college where I shared an office with several other people.  One semester the long-time adjuncts began losing their courses (because of pressure from full-time faculty members) and one felt the resentment based on, "I've been here for X years, and why are you getting courses?" I also had one adjunct who complained that I used hu's desk (mind you, none of the desks were assigned to anyone, but hu felt that hu was "entitled" because hu'd been there for several years.) i just maintained my friendliness and openness, avoided hu as much as possible, and survived.

My advice: avoid the office whenever possible, even cancel your office hours for appointments and email consultations (if the department chair agrees), and continue to teach as long as you can.  Negativity just feels like an intellectual plague, and should be avoided whenever possible.

[bassside27]

Belated thanks to tuxedocat, adjunctprincipessa, mickeymantle, king_ghidorah, and spinnaker for these thoughts, which I have been taking to heart.  Being less invested in community-potential of the environment has proven most helpful in the past few months.

I'm not clear on whether the perception that the OP is moving on to bigger and better things, if it exists, comes from the facts, or the way in which they are conveyed. On the forum people say "if I hadn't gotten this TT appointment I would not have stayed an adjunct" which I usually consider an opinion, not a fact.

Come market time I will fight hard for a TT job, but am not at all certain whether bigger/better things are in my future. Without a full-time position I would definitely want to keep this adjunct job for as long as I can and maintain good faith doing it.

[westcoastgirl]

I received a PhD from an Ivy last year and have been adjuncting at an R1 while I get my life in order (taking care of an ailing parent, starting a family, exploring the possibility of a different career).  Common adjuncting frustrations apart, I am grateful for this gig and genuinely enjoy the teaching.  I am not currently on the market for a TT job but may try it next year.  I have always been very open and friendly to my adjunct colleagues but am often treated a touch coldly, delicately in return.  Some have alluded to the likelihood I'll soon be moving on to greener pastures (actual phrase used), that I'll have nothing to worry about when going on the market, and so on.  Some behave with gracious condescension, as if having to preempt the condescension they expect from me.  Some bring up the schools I went to and I frequently feel I'm in the position of downplaying my educational background.

I come from federal-poverty-level roots, worked part-time jobs all my life to support my family, never identified with the 'elite' institutions I went to, and am sick of being presumed I'm an Ivy brat.  Anyone who actually has a conversation with me can see I'm a real person.  But against those who treat me this way for the first time, I wonder what I can say in brief to signal that they're wrong -- without sounding like I didn't appreciate my education.  I know this is a champagne problem -- and that my own vanity's at fault, too -- but it's built up a lot anger, sadness, and resentment inside.  Any advice welcome.

(And sorry for how inelegantly written this is.  Language skills still recovering from a first round of paper-grading.)

I never talk about where I'm in graduate school to students or other colleagues. It rarely come up. I don't tell my students either, unless they persist. When I first began, I used my grad institutions email. Then I realized that it was a lot more streamlined to use the email of the school. (There was one year when I was adjuncting/visiting at several different schools). 

I tend to have lasting relations with my students and we often go out at the end of the semester at which time I get a bit more personal. In the past, when they've asked, I get the "OMG, that is so awesome; how do you get in, blah blah blah." It just makes me feel badly. It hasn't been an issue though. Some of my close friends are former students.

[westcoastgirl]

I received a PhD from an Ivy last year and have been adjuncting at an R1 while I get my life in order (taking care of an ailing parent, starting a family, exploring the possibility of a different career).  Common adjuncting frustrations apart, I am grateful for this gig and genuinely enjoy the teaching.  I am not currently on the market for a TT job but may try it next year.  I have always been very open and friendly to my adjunct colleagues but am often treated a touch coldly, delicately in return.  Some have alluded to the likelihood I'll soon be moving on to greener pastures (actual phrase used), that I'll have nothing to worry about when going on the market, and so on.  Some behave with gracious condescension, as if having to preempt the condescension they expect from me.  Some bring up the schools I went to and I frequently feel I'm in the position of downplaying my educational background.

I come from federal-poverty-level roots, worked part-time jobs all my life to support my family, never identified with the 'elite' institutions I went to, and am sick of being presumed I'm an Ivy brat.  Anyone who actually has a conversation with me can see I'm a real person.  But against those who treat me this way for the first time, I wonder what I can say in brief to signal that they're wrong -- without sounding like I didn't appreciate my education.  I know this is a champagne problem -- and that my own vanity's at fault, too -- but it's built up a lot anger, sadness, and resentment inside.  Any advice welcome.

(And sorry for how inelegantly written this is.  Language skills still recovering from a first round of paper-grading.)

I never talk about where I'm in graduate school to students or other colleagues. It rarely come up. I don't tell my students either, unless they persist. When I first began, I used my grad institution's email. Then I realized that it was a lot more streamlined to use the email of the school. (There was one year when I was adjuncting/visiting at several different schools).  

I tend to have lasting relations with my students and we often go out at the end of the semester at which time I get a bit more personal. In the past, when they've asked, I get the "OMG, that is so awesome; how do you get in, blah blah blah." It just makes me unnecessarily uncomfortable. It hasn't been an issue though. Some of my close friends are former students. I think a lot of the schools at which I work assume I'm a student in their graduate department.

On more casual days or during summer, I wear pullovers/tee-shirts or athletic gear that I've received as freebies from the department or students. I recently got a really nice soccer shirt from a student (the soccer students pass out tees to the their teachers). It wasn't a personal gift or anything.

[bassside27]

Thanks, westcoastgirl.  I avoid ever mentioning my grad school, too, but when older adjuncts meet me they usually do ask, simply out of friendliness to a new youngish face at the photocopier.  The conversation tends to taper right after that, though I always ask about their work/teaching in return.  (And I'd totally rock school gear, but am only on campus to teach so stick to work garb.)

[aprilmay]

This sounds all too familiar, I am tenured at an ivy and get this all too often. The ivy graduates and faculty are not 100% entitled brats. There are certainly jerks here, but there are also arrogant jerks at every university. The people who are giving you a hard time are jealous and it is their problem. Sure they may have had someone with an ivy background be disrespectful to them, but to then generalize to every ivy person does not make sense. This is part of a larger issue of people making excuses for their own failure to achieve whatever type of academic success they crave. Pigou got it right.

I've heard faculty downplay others' achievements because others had lower teaching loads - the comparison just isn't fair! Or they just use their graduate students to do all the work! Or... it never stops.

You cannot make people secure with their own achievements. You can only be respectful of the work people do at all types of institutions and avoid bitter people, which you will find at every type of school, including ivy.  You seem to have a good attitude to just be hard working and respectful to everyone. It sounds like you are not a bragger. I do not think discussing your mother's illness will help matters much. That will sound like you are only doing this while your mom is ill until you move onto something better. The real point is that you do value your position and that university.