Feel the bond of the paper, as it may cost more than the paper the government uses to print U.S. savings bonds and Treasury bills. Smell the paper, too, as it has the aroma of wealth, power, and prestige; as it has the scent of a rare and valuable book, which belongs to a private collector; as it has an air of exclusivity akin to membership within a club of, by, and for the few.
Even the boxes that contain these materials bespeak authority. They speak as advertisements of accomplishment—before the recipient has arrived on campus, if the recipient will attend that particular campus. They bear the Gothic script and maroon color of the school itself, as if each box is an item to behold. It is an item of inestimable worth to many; to more viewers than there are undergraduates at, say, the University of Chicago in which letters of acceptance pale beside boxes—the scholastic equivalent of expensive care packages—that beckon you to handle them with care.