Jonathan Edwards College
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Edwards College is a residential college
Residential college
A residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...

 at Yale University
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...

. Established in 1932, it is the oldest of Yale's residential colleges
Yale College
Yale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...

. Members of the Yale community refer to it informally as J.E.
It is Yale's only residential college with an independent endowment, the Jonathan Edwards Trust. As a result, J.E. is able to support special initiatives and events related to student life and social activities, particularly within the arts.

History

Yale University administration borrowed a housing idea from British universities resulting in Yale's residential college system. The year 1932 saw the construction of Jonathan Edwards College as the first of the original seven residential quadrangles under the direction of architect James Gamble Rogers
James Gamble Rogers
James Gamble Rogers was an American architect best known for his academic commissions at Yale University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and elsewhere....

.

Jonathan Edwards College began during the academic year 1932-33 when Professor Robert Dudley French, the first Master, appointed eight members of the faculty to be the first fellows of the College. These men were chosen because they combined distinction in both teaching and scholarship, and because of their individuality and diversity of interests.

Together with the first Master they established a pattern for one of Yale's smallest Colleges, designed to encourage individuality and provide a forum where each could express ideas and beliefs in the company of Fellows and fellow students, both old and young.

Architecture

Jonathan Edwards College is styled as neo-gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 quadrangle
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...

, similar to the adjacent Harkness Memorial Quadrangle
Memorial Quadrangle
The Memorial Quadrangle at Yale University, USA, was donated by Anna M. Harkness with Harkness Tower named in memory of her son, Charles Harkness, Yale Class of 1883. Commissioned from James Gamble Rogers to supply much-needed student housing, the Quadrangle now consists of Saybrook College and...

. Unlike the other colleges Rogers designed, Jonathan Edwards' plan included both new and pre-existing buildings. Oldest of these buildings was Weir Hall (1924), which had housed Yale's program in arts and architecture. Adjacent to Weir Hall, which is the southmost boundary of the college, are Dickinson Hall (west) and Wheelock Hall (east), both built in 1926. Facilities of Weir Hall were assimilated gradually into the college; the building was not given over entirely until the 2008 renovations.

During the 2007-2008 academic year, Jonathan Edwards College underwent an extensive renovation. Residential areas of the college re-opened in time for the 2008-2009 school year. Other areas of the College including the libraries, gym, buttery, and printing press were available for collegiate use by December 2008, and a formal dedication took place on December 2, 2008.

Namesake

Jonathan Edwards matriculated at Yale (then the New Haven branch of the several campuses of the Collegiate School of Connecticut) in 1716 near his 13th birthday. Four years and one intense conversion later, he graduated as valedictorian of his class of about twenty students. This was at a time when entrance into either Harvard or what became Yale (two of the only three "colleges" then extant in colonial America) required ability in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. Edwards received his Masters of Arts from Yale two years later, in 1722, and eventually became one of America's most renowned theologians and philosophers. The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University is a department of the Yale University Divinity School that is responsible for publishing and providing scholarly information about the works of Jonathan Edwards , a 1720 Yale graduate, Christian theologian, and philosopher who played a significant...

 contains many of Edwards' original writings.

Insignia

The shield, described in heraldic terms, is ermine
Ermine (heraldry)
Ermine is a heraldic fur representing the winter coat of the stoat . Many skins would be sewn together to make a luxurious garment, producing a pattern of small black spots on a white field...

, a lion
Lion (heraldry)
The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises bravery, valour, strength, and royalty, since traditionally, it is regarded as the king of beasts.-Attitudes:...

 rampant vert
Vert
The colour green is commonly found in modern flags and coat of arms, and to a lesser extent also in the classical heraldry of the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern period....

(green). This coat is a simplified form of the arms used by Edwards himself.

The green rearing lion symbolizes courage and purity of heart
Lion (heraldry)
The lion is a common charge in heraldry. It traditionally symbolises bravery, valour, strength, and royalty, since traditionally, it is regarded as the king of beasts.-Attitudes:...

. Its crimson tongue and nails exhibit willingness to pursue its goals with passion both of speech and strength. The veil of white that surrounds the lion symbolizes the Grace of God
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...

.

The badge worn upon the College blazers is a red apple surrounded by a green serpent, a reference to the Book of Genesis. It recalls the Reverend Jonathan Edwards' preoccupation with the doctrine of original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...

. It is borne aloud and not upon a shield. It was devised by the first Master and Fellows, and designed by H. Dillington Palmer B.A. 1924. It forms the silver head of the ebony mace of the College, hanging in the Master's Office as the symbol of authority. When a more formal device is desired for use on a decorative shield, banner, a letterhead, or a title page, the coat of arms is preferred.

The college's mascot is the Spider, derived from Jonathan Edwards' famous sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
"Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" is a sermon written by American Christian theologian Jonathan Edwards, preached on July 8, 1741 in Enfield, Connecticut. Like Edwards' other sermons and writings, it combines vivid imagery of Hell with observations of the world and citations of scripture...

", which includes the line, "The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked."

Notable alumni

  • Murray Gell-Mann
    Murray Gell-Mann
    Murray Gell-Mann is an American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles...

    , 1948, 1969 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics
    Nobel Prize in Physics
    The Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded once a year by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895 and awarded since 1901; the others are the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and...

  • Nicholas F. Brady
    Nicholas F. Brady
    Nicholas Frederick Brady was United States Secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and is also known for articulating the Brady Plan in March 1989.-Early life:...

    , 1952, United States Senator from New Jersey (1982), United States Secretary of the Treasury
    United States Secretary of the Treasury
    The Secretary of the Treasury of the United States is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, which is concerned with financial and monetary matters, and, until 2003, also with some issues of national security and defense. This position in the Federal Government of the United...

     (1988-1993)
  • Wilbur Ross
    Wilbur Ross
    Wilbur L. Ross, Jr. is an American investor known for restructuring failed companies in industries such as steel, coal, telecommunications, foreign investment and textiles. He specializes in leveraged buyouts and distressed businesses. In 2011, Forbes magazine listed Ross as one of the world's...

    , 1959, financier
    Financier
    Financier is a term for a person who handles typically large sums of money, usually involving money lending, financing projects, large-scale investing, or large-scale money management. The term is French, and derives from finance or payment...

    , member of the Forbes 400
    Forbes 400
    The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by Forbes Magazine magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September, and 2010 marks the 29th issue. The 400 was started by Malcom Forbes in 1982 and treats those in the list like...

  • John Kerry
    John Kerry
    John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

    , 1966, Lieutenant Governor
    Lieutenant governor
    A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but is often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor — a "second-in-command"...

     of Massachusetts
    Massachusetts
    The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

     (1983-85) United States Senator from Massachusetts (1985-Present), unsuccessful U.S. Presidential Candidate (2004)
  • Fred Smith
    Frederick W. Smith
    Fred Sidney Smith III , or Fred Smith, is the founder, chairman, president, and CEO of FedEx, originally known as Federal Express, the first overnight express delivery company in the world, and the largest in the United States...

    , 1966, founder and president of FedEx
    FedEx
    FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...

  • Roland W. Betts
    Roland W. Betts
    Roland Whitney Betts is an investor, film producer, developer, and owner of Chelsea Piers in New York City. A classmate and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity brother of George W. Bush, Betts was the lead owner in Bush's Texas Rangers partnership. He is a graduate of St...

    , 1968, investor, film producer, lead owner in George W. Bush’s
    George W. Bush
    George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

     Texas Rangers
    Texas Rangers (baseball)
    The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

     partnership (1989-1998), and developer and owner of Chelsea Piers
    Chelsea Piers
    Chelsea Piers is a series of piers on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City that was a passenger ship terminal in the early 1900s that was used by the RMS Lusitania and was the destination of the RMS Titanic....

    .
  • Glenn Greenberg, 1968, founder of Chieftain Capital Management, son of Hank Greenberg
    Hank Greenberg
    Henry Benjamin "Hank" Greenberg , nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank" or "The Hebrew Hammer," was an American professional baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s. A first baseman primarily for the Detroit Tigers, Greenberg was one of the premier power hitters of his generation...

  • Ron Rosenbaum
    Ron Rosenbaum
    -Life and career:Rosenbaum was born into a Jewish family in New York City, New York and grew up in Bay Shore, New York. He graduated from Yale University in 1968 and won a Carnegie Fellowship to attend Yale's graduate program in English Literature, though he dropped out after taking one course...

    , 1968, writer, columnist for the New York Observer
    New York Observer
    The New York Observer is a weekly newspaper first published in New York City on September 22, 1987, by Arthur L. Carter, a very successful former investment banker with publishing interests. The Observer focuses on the city's culture, real estate, the media, politics and the entertainment and...

    , author of Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil
    Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil
    Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil is a 1998 book by journalist Ron Rosenbaum which tells of Rosenbaum's struggles with the "exceptionalist" character of Adolf Hitler's personality and impact on the world or, worse from his point of view, his struggle with the possibility...

    and the The Shakespeare Wars
    The Shakespeare Wars
    The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascos, Palace Coups is a 2006 book by Ron Rosenbaum, a one-time graduate student in the English department at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut....

  • Gary Locke, 1972, Governor of Washington (1997-2005)
  • Ron Claiborne, 1974, ABC News
    ABC News
    ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...

     correspondent and weekend news anchor for Good Morning America
    Good Morning America
    Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...

  • Gary Lucas
    Gary Lucas
    Gary Lucas is an American guitarist, a Grammy-nominated songwriter, a soundtrack composer for film and television, and an international recording artist with over a dozen solo albums to date. He has been described as "one of the best and most original guitarists in America" ; a "legendary leftfield...

    , 1974, guitarist
    Guitarist
    A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

    , Grammy-nominated songwriter, recording artist and soundtrack composer
  • Christopher Buckley, 1975, author of Thank You for Smoking and son of William F. Buckley
  • Donna Dubinsky
    Donna Dubinsky
    Donna Dubinsky is a businesswoman who played an integral role in the development of personal digital assistants serving as CEO of Palm, Inc. and co-founding Handspring with Jeff Hawkins in 1995...

    , 1977, CEO of Palm, Inc.
    Palm, Inc.
    Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...

    , co-founder of Handspring
    Handspring (company)
    Handspring was a maker of Palm OS-based Visor- and Treo-branded personal digital assistants. It was run by Jeff Hawkins, Donna Dubinsky, and Ed Colligan, the original inventors of the Palm Pilot and founders of Palm Computing, after they became unhappy with the direction in which 3Com was taking...

    , member of the Forbes 400
    Forbes 400
    The Forbes 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by Forbes Magazine magazine of the wealthiest 400 Americans, ranked by net worth. The list is published annually in September, and 2010 marks the 29th issue. The 400 was started by Malcom Forbes in 1982 and treats those in the list like...

  • Amy Klobuchar
    Amy Klobuchar
    Amy Jean Klobuchar is the senior United States Senator from Minnesota. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, an affiliate of the Democratic Party...

    , 1982, United States Senator from Minnesota.
  • Ellen Bork
    Ellen Bork
    Ellen Bork is the Director, Democracy and Human Rights at the Foreign Policy Initiative.Before taking this position, Ms. Bork as the Senior Programs Manager for Human Rights at Freedom House a democracy promotion organization based in Washington, D.C....

    , 1983, lawyer
    Lawyer
    A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

    , deputy director of the Project for the New American Century and daughter of failed U.S. Supreme Court Nominee Robert Bork
    Robert Bork
    Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...

  • Tom Perrotta
    Tom Perrotta
    Thomas R. Perrotta is an Albanian-American/ Italian-American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels Election and Little Children , both of which were made into critically acclaimed, Academy Award-nominated films...

    , 1983, novelist, author of Little Children
    Little Children (novel)
    Little Children is a 2004 novel by American author Tom Perrotta that interweaves the darkly comedic stories of seven main characters, all of whom live in the same suburban Boston neighborhood during the middle of a hot summer...

    , Election
    Election (1998 novel)
    Election is a 1998 novel by Tom Perrotta. It is a black comedy about a high school history teacher who attempts to sabotage a manipulative, overly-ambitious girl's campaign to become school president...

    and The Abstinence Teacher
    The Abstinence Teacher
    The Abstinence Teacher is a 2007 novel by American author Tom Perrotta. It tells the story of Ruth Ramsey, a divorced sexual education teacher who lives in suburban New Jersey and comes into conflict with the town's conservative population...

  • Andrew Solomon
    Andrew Solomon
    Andrew Solomon is a New York-born bisexual writer on politics, culture, and psychiatry who lives in New York and London. He has written for publications such as the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Artforum, on topics including depression, Soviet artists, the cultural rebirth of Afghanistan,...

    , 1985, writer, author of The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
    The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression
    The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression is a 2001 memoir written by Andrew Solomon. It examines the personal, cultural, and scientific aspects of depression through Solomon's published interviews with depression sufferers, doctors, research scientists, politicians, and pharmaceutical...

  • Jane Mendelsohn
    Jane Mendelsohn
    Jane Mendelsohn is an American author. She was graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, from Yale University in 1987, and attended Yale Law School for one year before beginning a career as a writer/journalist...

    , 1986, novelist, author of I was Amelia Earhart
  • Theo Epstein
    Theo Epstein
    Theo Nathan Epstein is the President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs.On November 25, 2002, he became the youngest GM in the history of Major League Baseball when the Boston Red Sox hired him at the age of 28...

    , 1995, current general manager of the Boston Red Sox
    Boston Red Sox
    The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

    .
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