Morse College
Encyclopedia
Morse College is one of the twelve residential colleges
at Yale University
, built in 1961 and designed by Eero Saarinen
. It is adjacent to Ezra Stiles College
. The current Master is Frank Keil, Professor of Psychology and Professor of Linguistics. The Associate Master is Kristi Lockhart. Following the Spring 2005 semester, former Dean Rosemary Jones stepped down, and was followed by Dean Alexandra Dufresne, who left after the 2006–2007 academic year. On May 2, 2007, Yale College
Dean Peter Salovey
announced that Joel Silverman will become the next Dean of Morse College.
'34 was chosen as the architect, and the Old York Square behind the Graduate School became the designated site. The Old Dominion Foundation, established by Paul Mellon
'29, provided money to build two "radically different" colleges, which would alleviate the growing strain on the older colleges.
Morse College is an eclectic structure built on an odd, angular site with many design features that are reminiscent of the Tuscan
villages, most notably San Gimignano
. The college consists almost entirely of single rooms, and in a modern attempt to capture the spirit of Gothic architecture, Saarinen eliminated all right angles from the living areas. This resulted, notoriously, in two rooms which have eleven walls, none of which is long enough to put the bed against and still be able to open the door. In a 1959 article in the Yale Daily News
, Eero Saarinen discussed his design for Morse. "Our primary effort was to create an architecture which would recognize the individual as individual instead of an anonymous integer in a group." Although the design has its fervent supporters, some prior residents regard the design as a disaster. The exterior of the college has been compared to concrete peanut brittle.
The college provides several amenities to its resident "Morsels." The fourteen-story main tower provides an inspiring view of all of New Haven. The common room's decorations include air hockey
, pool, ping-pong, foosball, and a big-screen TV. A special more homey atmosphere is found in Ericka's Room, a space filled with comfy couches, TV, board game tables, and hosting small literary and theatrical events. Ericka's Room memorializes Ericka Bishop, '97, who was killed by a drunk driver just prior to the start of her junior year in Morse.
Morse has an adjacent "twin" residential college named "Ezra Stiles
" which is architecturally similar and built at the same time. The two distinct colleges share an underground kitchen over which runs a public walkway to the Payne Whitney Gymnasium
. Architecturally, Morse and Stiles differ from predecessors by having more private space per student, and the lowest ratio of natural light aperture to wall surface of any other colleges.
In 2009, Morse College won the recently renewed and prestigious bladderball
contest. The Morse team defeated its opponents by a commanding score of 1,000,026 to 24.
Also during the 2009-2010 school year, Morse College dominated Yale intramural sports in Men's Cross Country, Men's B Hoops, and Coed Dodgeball, one of only four colleges to win championships in every season. Morse College freshmen then pulled off a brilliant performance at the Yale Freshman Olympics, earning a bronze medal and winning such events as the distinguished volleyball tournament.
" to Samuel Morse, followed by the repetition of "Morse, Morse, hung like a horse" six times, then concluding with "Morse Always WINS!"
Origin of the Current Official Morse College Cheer
1) It is always Samuel Morse's birthday. Every day.
2) If Morsels are playing a game of capture the flag on old campus against each other, no matter which team is victorious, Morse always wins.
Alternative to 2: Despite a terrible call by officials during the Freshman Olympics Dodgeball Competition of 2007 (thereby throwing the scoring of the Olympics to Pierson College), all 117 members of the Morse Freshman class came out of Durfee for the last event, the Tug of War, beating all of the other colleges.
Residential colleges of Yale University
Yale University has a system of 12 residential colleges to which students are assigned before they arrive. They form centers of residential life, including housing, dining, and common areas for students.-History:...
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...
, built in 1961 and designed by Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
. It is adjacent to Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College is a residential college at Yale University, built in 1961 by Eero Saarinen. Architecturally, it is known for its lack of right angles. It is adjacent to Morse College.-Origin:...
. The current Master is Frank Keil, Professor of Psychology and Professor of Linguistics. The Associate Master is Kristi Lockhart. Following the Spring 2005 semester, former Dean Rosemary Jones stepped down, and was followed by Dean Alexandra Dufresne, who left after the 2006–2007 academic year. On May 2, 2007, Yale College
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:...
Dean Peter Salovey
Peter Salovey
Peter Salovey is Provost and the Chris Argyris Professor of Psychology at Yale University. He joined the Yale faculty in 1986 after receiving an A.B. and M.A. from Stanford University in 1980, with departmental honors and university distinction, and a Ph.D. from Yale in 1986...
announced that Joel Silverman will become the next Dean of Morse College.
History
In his report on the year 1955-6, Yale President A. Whitney Griswold announced his intention to add at least one more residential college to the system Yale had launched only two decades earlier. "We have the colleges so full that community life, discipline, education, even sanitation are suffering," he stated. This news bred wild rumors about four or five new colleges being added to Yale's system. Nothing substantial was announced until the spring of 1959 when Eero SaarinenEero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect and industrial designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.-Biography:Eero Saarinen shared the same birthday as his father,...
'34 was chosen as the architect, and the Old York Square behind the Graduate School became the designated site. The Old Dominion Foundation, established by Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
'29, provided money to build two "radically different" colleges, which would alleviate the growing strain on the older colleges.
Morse College is an eclectic structure built on an odd, angular site with many design features that are reminiscent of the Tuscan
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....
villages, most notably San Gimignano
San Gimignano
San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. It is mainly famous for its medieval architecture, especially its towers, which may be seen from several kilometres outside the town....
. The college consists almost entirely of single rooms, and in a modern attempt to capture the spirit of Gothic architecture, Saarinen eliminated all right angles from the living areas. This resulted, notoriously, in two rooms which have eleven walls, none of which is long enough to put the bed against and still be able to open the door. In a 1959 article in the Yale Daily News
Yale Daily News
The Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
, Eero Saarinen discussed his design for Morse. "Our primary effort was to create an architecture which would recognize the individual as individual instead of an anonymous integer in a group." Although the design has its fervent supporters, some prior residents regard the design as a disaster. The exterior of the college has been compared to concrete peanut brittle.
The college provides several amenities to its resident "Morsels." The fourteen-story main tower provides an inspiring view of all of New Haven. The common room's decorations include air hockey
Air hockey
Air hockey is a game for two competing players trying to score points in the opposing player's goal.-Equipment:Air hockey requires an air-hockey table, two player-held mallets, and a puck....
, pool, ping-pong, foosball, and a big-screen TV. A special more homey atmosphere is found in Ericka's Room, a space filled with comfy couches, TV, board game tables, and hosting small literary and theatrical events. Ericka's Room memorializes Ericka Bishop, '97, who was killed by a drunk driver just prior to the start of her junior year in Morse.
Morse has an adjacent "twin" residential college named "Ezra Stiles
Ezra Stiles College
Ezra Stiles College is a residential college at Yale University, built in 1961 by Eero Saarinen. Architecturally, it is known for its lack of right angles. It is adjacent to Morse College.-Origin:...
" which is architecturally similar and built at the same time. The two distinct colleges share an underground kitchen over which runs a public walkway to the Payne Whitney Gymnasium
Payne Whitney Gymnasium
The Payne Whitney Gymnasium is the gymnasium of Yale University. Built in the prevailing Gothic architecture style of the campus in 1932, it is a remarkable building, possessing a Gothic tower, a third-floor swimming pool, a polo practice room, and a rooftop running track. It is the second-largest...
. Architecturally, Morse and Stiles differ from predecessors by having more private space per student, and the lowest ratio of natural light aperture to wall surface of any other colleges.
In 2009, Morse College won the recently renewed and prestigious bladderball
Bladderball
Bladderball was a game traditionally played by students of Yale University, between 1954 and 1982, until being banned by the administration. Revival games were played in 2009 and 2011.-History:...
contest. The Morse team defeated its opponents by a commanding score of 1,000,026 to 24.
Also during the 2009-2010 school year, Morse College dominated Yale intramural sports in Men's Cross Country, Men's B Hoops, and Coed Dodgeball, one of only four colleges to win championships in every season. Morse College freshmen then pulled off a brilliant performance at the Yale Freshman Olympics, earning a bronze medal and winning such events as the distinguished volleyball tournament.
Renovations
As of June 2009, renovations of Morse College were begun to bring the college up to date with the other ten colleges that were renovated in the previous ten years. Renovations include a steel and wood skybridge between Morse and Ezra Stiles, as well as a large shared basement space that will house, among other elements, a gym, recording studio, art studio, and 100-seat theater, and that will swell the shared space between Ezra Stiles and Morse to 15300 square feet (1,421.4 m²) from the former 11,699. Renovations also include a re-landscaped courtyard, an outdoor eating patio, and a water feature, the "Morse Beach".Cheers
- "Morse, Morse, Hung like a horse!"
- "Dot dot, dash dash, we're Morse college, kiss our axe!" (in reference to Morse code and the battle axe that is part of Morse's shield)
- "Dit dot dit, rah rah Morse!"
- "Yale is Morse!"
- "Morse is the Co-op, DANCE! Morse is the Co-op, DANCE! Bet you want to get inside our PANTS!" (In reference to a common slur formerly used by students of other residential colleges that Morse College looked like the old Yale Co-op building and present Yale Bookstore.)
- "Morse always wins"
- "We eat your fear"
- "Harass them! Harass them! Make them relinquish the ball!"
- "Morse likes sports!"
Official cheer
The full official cheer of Morse College is a rendition of "Happy BirthdayHappy Birthday to You
"Happy Birthday to You", also known more simply as "Happy Birthday", is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth...
" to Samuel Morse, followed by the repetition of "Morse, Morse, hung like a horse" six times, then concluding with "Morse Always WINS!"
Origin of the Current Official Morse College Cheer
1) It is always Samuel Morse's birthday. Every day.
2) If Morsels are playing a game of capture the flag on old campus against each other, no matter which team is victorious, Morse always wins.
Alternative to 2: Despite a terrible call by officials during the Freshman Olympics Dodgeball Competition of 2007 (thereby throwing the scoring of the Olympics to Pierson College), all 117 members of the Morse Freshman class came out of Durfee for the last event, the Tug of War, beating all of the other colleges.
Notable alumni
- Jennifer BealsJennifer BealsJennifer Beals is an American actress and a former teen model. She is known for her roles as Alexandra "Alex" Owens in the 1983 film Flashdance, and as Bette Porter on the Showtime drama series The L Word. She earned an NAACP Image Award and a Golden Globe Award nomination for the former...
, actress from FlashdanceFlashdanceAnother song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...
and The L WordThe L WordThe L Word is an American co-production television drama series originally shown on Showtime portraying the lives of a group of lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and their friends, family and lovers in the trendy Greater Los Angeles, California city of West Hollywood... - Nancy CaffynNancy CaffynNancy J. Jacobson Caffyn was an American politician who served as the Mayor of South Windsor, Connecticut from 1977–79 as the 3rd Barnstable District representative in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1999–2001.Caffyn grew up in East Hampton, Connecticut...
, former Mayor of South Windsor, ConnecticutSouth Windsor, Connecticut-History:In 1659, Thomas Burnham purchased the tract of land now covered by the towns of South Windsor and East Hartford from Tantinomo, chief sachem of the Podunk Indians. Burnham lived on the land and later willed it to his nine children...
and a former member of the Massachusetts House of RepresentativesMassachusetts House of RepresentativesThe Massachusetts House of Representatives is the lower house of the Massachusetts General Court, the state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is composed of 160 members elected from single-member electoral districts across the Commonwealth. Representatives serve two-year terms... - Sada JacobsonSada JacobsonSada Molly Jacobson is an American fencer. Her hometown is Dunwoody, GA. She is the 2008 Olympic Individual Sabre silver medalist and 2004 Olympic Individual Sabre bronze medalist. She has been training at Nellya fencers from a young age.-Background:Jacobson is a daughter of David Jacobson, a...
, 2004 Olympic bronze and 2008 silver (individual) and bronze (team) medal winner for sabre fencing - Allan HeinbergAllan HeinbergAllan Heinberg is an American film screenwriter, who wrote Young Avengers for Marvel Comics, and has been a writer and producer on The Naked Truth, Party of Five, Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls, The O.C., and Grey's Anatomy.Heinberg's Young Avengers was a sales success for Marvel, though faced...
(1989), co-creator of The OC, writer for The Gilmore Girls, Sex and the CitySex and the CitySex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
, etc. - Joseph Lieberman, US Senator and former Vice Presidential candidate
- Douglas Warner, former Chairman, J.P. Morgan
- Bronson PinchotBronson PinchotBronson Alcott Pinchot is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop , The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party...
, actor portraying Balki in Perfect StrangersPerfect Strangers (TV series)Perfect Strangers is an American sitcom that ran for eight seasons from March 25, 1986, to August 6, 1993, on the ABC television network. Created by Dale McRaven, the series chronicles the rocky coexistence of midwestern American Larry Appleton and his distant cousin from eastern Mediterranean... - Clay ShirkyClay ShirkyClay Shirky is an American writer, consultant and teacher on the social and economic effects of Internet technologies. He has a joint appointment at New York University as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Assistant Arts Professor in the New...
, writer on the social and political impact of the InternetInternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
Trivia
- The Morse courtyard was home to two well known sculptures - Lipstick (Ascending) on Caterpillar Tracks by Claes OldenburgClaes OldenburgClaes Oldenburg is a Swedish sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects...
and a piece by J. Seward Johnson. The Johnson sculpture was removed during the renovations. - Morse's mascot is the walrusWalrusThe walrus is a large flippered marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and sub-Arctic seas of the Northern Hemisphere. The walrus is the only living species in the Odobenidae family and Odobenus genus. It is subdivided into three subspecies: the Atlantic...
, because in French le morse translates to walrus. - A student in Morse is known as a "Morsel," also the name of the small cafe ("Buttery") in Morse's common room.
- On April 23, 2010 over 100 Morse students stormed the Yale Daily NewsYale Daily NewsThe Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
building with a replica of the Lipstick in response to an article which claimed that Morse students had the least spirit of the 12 residential colleges.