"I’m not sure what was the key component, but one of them was that every single person was there by choice.'

I can tell you for a fact that wasn't true then. It likely isn't true now. I was forced by my parents to apply for admission to TJ and was accepted. I ultimately refused to attend despite the great pressure from both my parents and school officials. I know several people who were in the same boat as I was but gave into the pressure and attended hating doing so. This would have been during the same time period you attended.