Touchy-feely can be addressed directly, if not completely, by simply explaining it as a group culture thing which a new person does not have to adopt. If you tell a new person that Carolingians tend to hug on short notice, they'll know it's just that, not that they're being touched with a sexual agenda, or something. And if they're forewarned, it probably won't bother them as much. I suppose our roots in the counter-culture of the 60s are showing.

I can't answer the Campus Insularity issue well. Wellesley was fairly insular in my day (class of 87) but there was the regular bus to MIT, and I wasn't the sort to let that stop me from like minds. But I'm 40 now and the people you're concerned about are 20, and I don't pretend I understand what it's like.