Berkeley College (Yale)
Encyclopedia
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Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, constructed in 1934. The eighth of Yale's 12 residential colleges, it was named in honor of Reverend George Berkeley
George Berkeley
George Berkeley , also known as Bishop Berkeley , was an Irish philosopher whose primary achievement was the advancement of a theory he called "immaterialism"...
(1685-1753), dean of Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
and later bishop of Cloyne
Cloyne
Cloyne is a small town to the south-east of the town of Midleton in eastern County Cork, Province of Munster, Ireland. It is also a see city of the Anglican Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese...
, in recognition of the assistance in land and books that he gave to Yale
YALE
RapidMiner, formerly YALE , is an environment for machine learning, data mining, text mining, predictive analytics, and business analytics. It is used for research, education, training, rapid prototyping, application development, and industrial applications...
in the 18th century. The college was renovated in 1998.
College life
As of fall 2011, Berkeley freshmen are housed in Lanman-Wright Hall. Previously, freshmen were housed in Vanderbilt Hall, erected in memory of William Henry Vanderbilt, a member of the class of 1893, who died in 1892 and was the son of Cornelius Vanderbilt IICornelius Vanderbilt II
Cornelius Vanderbilt II was an American socialite, heir, businessman, and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family....
and Alice Gwynne Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt Hall is home to the Vanderbilt Suite; amongst the Suite's former residents is Anderson Cooper
Anderson Cooper
Anderson Hays Cooper is an American journalist, author, and television personality. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news show Anderson Cooper 360°. The program is normally broadcast live from a New York City studio; however, Cooper often broadcasts live on location for breaking news stories...
, great-grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Cornelius Vanderbilt II
Cornelius Vanderbilt II was an American socialite, heir, businessman, and a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family....
, although Cooper was actually a member of Trumbull College
Trumbull College
Trumbull College is one of twelve undergraduate residential colleges of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.The college is named for Jonathan Trumbull, the last governor of the Colony of Connecticut and first governor of the State of Connecticut, serving from 1769 until 1784, and a friend and...
, which housed its freshmen there at the time.
Berkeley is similar to other residential colleges, with its own gym, television room, and other amenities. It also has unique features:
- Bishop Berkeley Bagel and Beverage Bar: A place where students gather to watch movies, engage in fellowship, and eat greasy food. The Bagel Bar was founded in the late 1980s by Richard Y.C. Lee (B.A. 1991), who later died in the attack on the World Trade CenterSeptember 11, 2001 attacksThe September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
. - South Court Basement: In addition to the Bagel Bar, the South Court basement contains a pool table, a football tableTable footballTable football, also known as gitoni or foosball, is a table-top game and sport that is loosely based on association football.-Names:...
, table tennisTable tennisTable tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...
, a free NBA JamNBA JamNBA Jam is a basketball arcade game developed by Midway in 1993. It is the first entry in the NBA Jam series, and was written entirely in assembly language. The main designer and programmer for this game was Mark Turmell...
video arcadeVideo arcadeAn amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
machine, and a large television screen with a Blu-Ray player. Berkeley students can be found studying and socializing here every night of the week. - North Court Basement: Home to The Thomas MendenhallThomas C. Mendenhall (historian)Thomas Corwin Mendenhall II was a professor of history at Yale University, the sixth President of Smith College, and the leading authority on the history of collegiate rowing in the United States.-Early life and education:The grandson and namesake of Thomas Corwin Mendenhall ,...
, this includes a luxurious sitting area and is equipped with a very large entertainment center. - The Swiss Room: A private dining room in the dining hall. Transplanted piece by piece from SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, this 16th-century wooden room has been decorated with stained glassStained glassThe term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
by G. Owen BonawitG. Owen BonawitG. Owen Bonawit was an artist whose studio created thousands of pieces of stained glass for Yale, Duke, and Northwestern universities; Connecticut College; and at private homes. There are, by one count, 887 pieces in Yale's Sterling Memorial Library. Bonawit worked often and closely with the...
and is considered priceless. - The Berkeley Press: A complete, operational letterpress printshop, with a large powered platen press and precision Vandercook flatbed cylinder press, the Berekely Press occupies two rooms on the lower level. Students use it to produce their own books, broadsides, holiday cards and ephemeraEphemeraEphemera are transitory written and printed matter not intended to be retained or preserved. The word derives from the Greek, meaning things lasting no more than a day. Some collectible ephemera are advertising trade cards, airsickness bags, bookmarks, catalogues, greeting cards, letters,...
, and a regular Apprentice Course introduces newcomers into the art. - The woodshop: A woodworkingWoodworkingWoodworking is the process of building, making or carving something using wood.-History:Along with stone, mud, and animal parts, wood was one of the first materials worked by early humans. Microwear analysis of the Mousterian stone tools used by the Neanderthals show that many were used to work wood...
shop that is well-stocked with power tools and lumber. A professional cabinetmaker comes to Berkeley most weekends to teach students the trade. - The tunnel: An underground passageway connecting Berkeley's two grand courts, North Court and South Court, which are divided by a grassy area in front of Yale's main library, Sterling Memorial LibrarySterling Memorial LibrarySterling Memorial Library is the largest library at Yale University, containing over 4 million volumes. It is an example of Gothic revival architecture, designed by James Gamble Rogers, adorned with thousands of panes of stained glass created by G. Owen Bonawit.The Library has 15 levels, each with...
. It stands steps away from the Beinecke Library, the Bass LibraryBass LibraryAnne T. & Robert M. Bass Library, formerly Cross Campus Library, is Yale University's main library for frequently used materials in the humanities and social sciences, with an especially large literature collection. In addition, Bass contains many reading and studying spaces, a large computer lab,...
, the Commons, and the Old Campus. The tunnel features a variety of student murals on the walls and is a convenient pathway on rainy or snowy days. - On the wall outside the Master's House that faces Sterling Memorial LibrarySterling Memorial LibrarySterling Memorial Library is the largest library at Yale University, containing over 4 million volumes. It is an example of Gothic revival architecture, designed by James Gamble Rogers, adorned with thousands of panes of stained glass created by G. Owen Bonawit.The Library has 15 levels, each with...
, there is a plaque stating that its location marks the house where Josiah Willard GibbsJosiah Willard GibbsJosiah Willard Gibbs was an American theoretical physicist, chemist, and mathematician. He devised much of the theoretical foundation for chemical thermodynamics as well as physical chemistry. As a mathematician, he invented vector analysis . Yale University awarded Gibbs the first American Ph.D...
lived.
Traditions
Annual traditions include the snowball fight (which pits North Court against South Court), GLO (a blacklight party), and the Bishop Bash, which was founded in the spring of 2002 by Ben Reiter and Charles FinchCharles Finch
Charles Finch is an American author of mystery novels set in Victorian era England.Finch was born in New York City. He graduated from Phillips Academy and Yale University where he majored in English and History. He also holds a master's degree in Renaissance English Literature from the...
- under the guidance of the Master's Office. Its unofficial rivals are Trumbull
Trumbull College
Trumbull College is one of twelve undergraduate residential colleges of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.The college is named for Jonathan Trumbull, the last governor of the Colony of Connecticut and first governor of the State of Connecticut, serving from 1769 until 1784, and a friend and...
and Calhoun
Calhoun College
Calhoun College is a residential college of Yale University.-Early history:In 1641, John Brockston established a farm on the plot of land that is now Calhoun College...
Colleges. One college tradition is the "Berkeley Streak." During the annual prospective student visit days, Berkeley students would streak
Streaking
Streaking is the act of running nude through a public place.-History:On 5 July 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o'clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter...
from freshmen housing on old campus to Berkeley's North Court. The streak, which had not happened since 1997, was revived in November 2009 on the night before The Game.
Dining hall
According to the Wall Street Journal http://www.yaledailynews.com/article.asp?AID=20798, Berkeley has the best college dining hall in the country. Until 2006 it was the testing ground for an experimental organic foodOrganic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
and sustainable produce dining plan overseen by celebrity chef
Celebrity chef
A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become famous and well known. Today celebrity chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations via mass media, especially television. Historically, celebrity chefs have included Antoine Carême and Martino da Como.-External...
Alice Waters
Alice Waters
Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...
. Currently, the dining hall has joined the rest of the residential colleges in serving the same menu, thereby rescinding its unique status. It still remains an immensely popular place to eat, largely due to its central location on campus.
Notable alumni
- Fareed ZakariaFareed ZakariaFareed Rafiq Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist and author. From 2000 to 2010, he was a columnist for Newsweek and editor of Newsweek International. In 2010 he became Editor-At-Large of Time magazine...
, editor of Newsweek International - Jordana BrewsterJordana BrewsterJordana Brewster is an American actress. She began her acting career in her late teens, with a 1995 one-episode role in the soap opera All My Children. She followed that appearance with the recurring role as Nikki Munson in As the World Turns, for which Brewster was nominated for Outstanding Teen...
, actress - Thomas GrahamThomas GrahamThomas Graham may refer to:*Tommy Graham , English international footballer*Thomas Graham, Lord Lynedoch , British politician and soldier*Thomas Graham , Scottish chemist...
, Russia scholar - Steve CharnovitzSteve CharnovitzSteve Charnovitz is a scholar of public international law, living in the United States. He teaches at The George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC, and is best known for his writings on the linkages between trade and environment and trade and labor rights.-Background:Charnovitz is...
, law professor - Dick CheneyDick CheneyRichard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, vice president (transferred to University of Wyoming) - Ellen Oliensis, professor of Classics, UC Berkeley
- David Evans, professor of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University
Trivia
- On the television show Gilmore GirlsGilmore GirlsGilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
, Logan Huntzberger is a member of Berkeley College.