Branford College

Last updated
Branford College
Residential college at Yale University
Yale University
Branford College shield.png
Coat of arms of Branford College
Location74 High Street
Coordinates 41°18′35″N72°55′47″W / 41.3098°N 72.9298°W / 41.3098; -72.9298
NicknameBranfordians
MottoSi id vis, haud somnium est. (Latin)
Motto in EnglishIf you will it, it is no dream.
Established1933
Named for Branford, Connecticut
ColorsBlue, Green, Gold, White
Sister college Quincy House, Harvard
Pembroke College, Oxford
Christ's College, Cambridge
Head Enrique M. De La Cruz
DeanMaria del Mar Galindo
Undergraduates461 (2013-2014)
Fellows209 (2013-2014)
MascotSquirrel
Website branford.yalecollege.yale.edu

Branford College is one of the 14 residential colleges at Yale University.

Contents

Founding

Branford College was founded in 1933 by partitioning the Memorial Quadrangle (built in 1917-21) into two parts: Saybrook and Branford with Branford being the largest part. In the start of the academic year in 1933, Branford College opened its doors. Clarence Whittlesey Mendell, Dean of Yale College, had been named Master in 1931 and he held the post until 1943. What impressed quite a few visitors to Branford was the calm and subdued character of the College. Chauncey Tinker commented that Saybrook was like an anthill, but Branford was like an oyster bed. In records of the time, the main thing that stands out about Branford is the activity among its students, and of encouragement of activity on the part of Master Mendell, who commented that oyster beds produce pearls.

Branford College was named for the nearby town of Branford, Connecticut, where Yale was briefly located. [1] The base of Harkness Tower, one of the university's most prominent structures and one of the tallest free-standing stone structures in the world, forms one corner of Branford's main courtyard. The tower contains a 54-bell carillon. Frank Lloyd Wright is said to have been asked where he would choose to be if he could be anywhere in the U.S. and responded that he would pick Harkness Tower so he would not have to look at it.[ citation needed ] Since Branford's courtyards have many squirrels, the college adopted the squirrel as its mascot.

Branford College courtyard with Harkness Tower in the background. Branford harkness2.jpg
Branford College courtyard with Harkness Tower in the background.

The college has a longstanding rivalry with neighboring Jonathan Edwards College as well as a less formal one with Saybrook, both of which frequently attempt to steal Branford's college flag. Branford is the sister college of Quincy House at Harvard, Pembroke College at Oxford and Christ's College at Cambridge. It is tradition for Branfordians to host members of Quincy House when Yale hosts Harvard during The Game.

Facilities

Branford Court towards Wrexham Tower, spring Branford Court spring 2.JPG
Branford Court towards Wrexham Tower, spring

There are two "common rooms" in addition to the primary common room (located underneath the Dining Hall). Located between Linonia and Branford Courts is the Fellows' Lounge, where the Fellows of the College meet. This room is called the Trumbull Room, in memory of the first art gallery at Yale, which was built to house the paintings of John Trumbull.

The Branford Dining Hall is located above the common room parallel to York Street. The large, vaulted main dining hall contains a 15th-century Burgundian fireplace. A smaller, cozier room traditionally called The Pit, also known as the Small Dining Hall, is frequently reserved by student groups for dinner meetings.

The other "Common Room" is the Mendell Room, named for Branford's first master, Clarence Whittlesey Mendell. Confusingly, this room also had several other names. It was originally dubbed the "Cabinet Commons" when it was constructed. It quickly came to be known as the "Ship Room" after the carving over the mantle, which depicts the phantom "Great Ship" lost at sea off the coast of New Haven. During the early days of the College, it was used as a "Music Room," and a record player was installed for the use of College students. It was only after the death of Master Mendell that the room was renamed in his honor. The room, which is located between the Branford and Brothers in Unity Courts (joined by the Jared Eliot gateway) is used for seminars and meetings of small student organizations.

Calliope Court Calliope Court dusk.JPG
Calliope Court

The Branford College Library is located in the middle courtyard of Branford College, named Calliope Court. The student rooms and common areas are decorated with stained glass by G. Owen Bonawit. Branford's architect, James Gamble Rogers, required that at least one pane on every window be broken and then soldered back together, resulting in a Y-shape in many of the windows.

The student-led committee, Branford College Council (BCC), coordinates events around Branford College.

The basement of the College houses the College's student-run buttery, a computer cluster, a small weight room, two squash courts, a dance studio, a basketball court, a digital media center, a game room, a student kitchen, a pottery studio, a printing press, and laundry facilities. The basement was remodeled just more than a decade ago, with the rest of the college. First-year Branfordians live in entryways A through C of Vanderbilt Hall on Old Campus and share the building with the first-year students of Saybrook College, who live in entryways D through F of the same building. The college was renovated in 2000 as part of the University's renovation of all the residential colleges.

Heads and Deans

East end of Branford Court Branford Court east dusk vertical.jpg
East end of Branford Court

In 2016, the title of "Master" was changed to "Head of College" [2]

Notable alumni

Fictional

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale College</span> Undergraduate college of Yale University

Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, when its schools were confederated and the institution was renamed Yale University. It is ranked as one of the top colleges in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunster House</span> Residential house of Harvard College

Dunster House is one of twelve undergraduate residential houses at Harvard University. Built in 1930, it is one of the first two dormitories at Harvard University constructed under President Abbott Lawrence Lowell's House Plan and one of the seven Houses given to Harvard by Edward Harkness. In the early days, room rents varied based on the floor and the size of the room. Dunster was unique among Harvard dormitories for its sixth-story walk-up ; these rooms were originally rented by poorer students, such as Norman Mailer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saybrook College</span>

Saybrook College is one of the 14 residential colleges at Yale University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial Quadrangle</span> Building at Yale University

The Memorial Quadrangle is a residential quadrangle at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Commissioned in 1917 to supply much-needed student housing for Yale College, it was Yale's first Collegiate Gothic building and its first project by James Gamble Rogers, who later designed ten other major buildings for the university. The Quadrangle has been occupied by Saybrook College and Branford College, two of the original ten residential colleges at Yale. The collegiate system of Yale University was largely inspired by the Oxbridge model of residential and teaching colleges at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterling Memorial Library</span> Main library building of the Yale University Library

Sterling Memorial Library (SML) is the main library building of the Yale University Library system in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Opened in 1931, the library was designed by James Gamble Rogers as the centerpiece of Yale's Gothic Revival campus. The library's tower has sixteen levels of bookstacks containing over 4 million volumes. Several special collections—including the university's Manuscripts & Archives—are also housed in the building. It connects via tunnel to the underground Bass Library, which holds an additional 150,000 volumes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley College, Yale University</span> Residential college at Yale University

Berkeley College is a residential college at Yale University, opened in 1934. The eighth of Yale's 14 residential colleges, it was named in honor of Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753), dean of Derry and later bishop of Cloyne, in recognition of the assistance in land and books that he gave to Yale in the 18th century. Built on the site of a group of buildings known from the 1890s until 1933 as the Berkeley Oval, the college was renovated in 1998. It is distinct for having two courtyards connected by an underground tunnel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Hopper College</span> College of Yale University

Grace Hopper College is a residential college of Yale University, opened in 1933 as one of the original eight undergraduate residential colleges endowed by Edward Harkness. It was originally named Calhoun College after US Vice President John C. Calhoun, but renamed in 2017 in honor of computer scientist Grace Murray Hopper. The building was designed by John Russell Pope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davenport College</span> Residential college of Yale University

Davenport College is one of the fourteen residential colleges of Yale University. Its buildings were completed in 1933 mainly in the Georgian style but with a gothic façade along York Street. The college was named for John Davenport, who founded Yale's home city of New Haven, Connecticut. An extensive renovation of the college's buildings occurred during the 2004–2005 academic year as part of Yale's comprehensive building renovation project. Davenport College has an unofficial rivalry with adjoining Pierson College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pierson College</span>

Pierson College is a residential college at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Opened in 1933, it is named for Abraham Pierson, a founder and the first rector of the Collegiate School, the college later known as Yale. With just under 500 undergraduate members, Pierson is the largest of Yale's residential colleges by number of students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silliman College</span>

Silliman College is a residential college at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, named for scientist and Yale professor Benjamin Silliman. It opened in September 1940 as the last of the original ten residential colleges, and contains buildings constructed as early as 1901.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trumbull College</span>

Trumbull College is one of fourteen undergraduate residential colleges of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The college is named for Jonathan Trumbull, governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784 and advisor and friend to General George Washington. A Harvard College graduate, Trumbull was the only colonial governor to support the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Edwards College</span> Residential College at Yale University

Jonathan Edwards College is a residential college at Yale University. It is named for theologian and minister Jonathan Edwards, a 1720 graduate of Yale College. JE's residential quadrangle was the first to be completed in Yale's residential college system, and was opened to undergraduates in 1933.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pforzheimer House</span> Residential House of Harvard College

Pforzheimer House, nicknamed PfoHo (FOE-hoe) and formerly named North House, is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. It was named in 1995 for Carol K. and Carl Howard Pforzheimer Jr, major University and Radcliffe College benefactors, and their family.

Bladderball was a game traditionally played by students of Yale University, between 1954 and 1982, until being banned by the administration. The game is a variant of pushball, and has its roots in mob football. It was originally a competition between The Yale Banner, the Yale Daily News, campus humor magazine The Yale Record and campus radio station WYBC. Revival games were played in 2009 and 2011 and, very briefly, in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gamble Rogers</span> American architect

James Gamble Rogers was an American architect. A proponent of what came to be known as Collegiate Gothic architecture, he is best known for his academic commissions at Yale University, Columbia University, Northwestern University, and elsewhere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cabot House</span> Residential House of Harvard College

Cabot House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University. Cabot House derives from the merger in 1970 of Radcliffe College's South and East House, which took the name South House, until the name was changed and the House reincorporated in 1984 to honor Harvard benefactors Thomas Cabot and Virginia Cabot. The house is composed of six buildings surrounding Radcliffe Quadrangle; in order of construction, they are Bertram Hall (1901), Eliot Hall (1906), Whitman Hall (1911), Barnard Hall (1912), Briggs Hall (1923), and Cabot Hall (1937). All six of these structures were originally women-only Radcliffe College dormitories until they were integrated in 1970. Along with Currier House and Pforzheimer House, Cabot is part of the Radcliffe Quad.

Lowell House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, located at 10 Holyoke Place facing Mount Auburn Street between Harvard Yard and the Charles River. Officially, it is named for the Lowell family, but an ornate ALL woven into the ironwork above the main gate discreetly alludes to Abbott Lawrence Lowell, Harvard's president at the time of construction. Its majestic neo-Georgian design, centered on two landscaped courtyards, received the 1938 Harleston Parker Medal and might be considered the model for later Harvard houses nearby. Lowell House is simultaneously close to the Yard, Harvard Square, and other Harvard "River" houses, and its blue-capped bell tower, visible for many miles, is a local landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hewitt Quadrangle</span> Plaza located at Yale University

Hewitt University Quadrangle, commonly known as Beinecke Plaza, is a plaza at the center of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the home of the university's administration, main auditorium, and dining facilities. The quadrangle was created with the construction of the university's Bicentennial Buildings and Woodbridge Hall in 1901. Until 1917, it was known as University Court. The completion of the Beinecke Library created subterranean library facilities beneath the courtyard, establishing the present appearance of the paved plaza and sunken courtyard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quincy House (Harvard College)</span> Residential House of Harvard College

Quincy House is one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, located on Plympton Street between Harvard Yard and the Charles River. The second largest of the twelve undergraduate houses, Quincy House was named after Josiah Quincy III (1772–1864), president of Harvard from 1829 to 1845. Quincy House's official counterpart at Yale University is Branford College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Residential colleges of Yale University</span> Undergraduate housing system at Yale University

Yale University has a system of fourteen residential colleges with which all Yale undergraduate students and many faculty are affiliated. Inaugurated in 1933, the college system is considered the defining feature of undergraduate life at Yale College, and the residential colleges serve as the residence halls and social hubs for most undergraduates. Construction and programming for eight of the original ten colleges were funded by educational philanthropist Edward S. Harkness. Yale was, along with Harvard, one of the first universities in the United States to establish a residential college system.

References

  1. Branford College Home Page Archived July 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ""Master" to become "head of college"" . Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  3. O'Rourke, Meghan (13 November 2015). "Yale's Unsafe Spaces". The New Yorker. Retrieved 13 November 2015.