Silliman College Class of 2019 1 C LASS OF 2 0 1 9 , WELCOME TO SILLIMAN! ndergraduate life at Yale College is organized around twelve residential colleges where Ustudents live, eat, attend seminars and workshops, and participate in intellectual, artistic, and social activities. Each college is a cohesive community with its own character and traditions. A Master and Dean live in each college with their families, and there are apartments where faculty members live as Resident Fellows. Silliman is the largest college at Yale, occupying most of a city block. Whereas other colleges house their freshmen on Old Campus, freshmen in Silliman Upperclassmen entryways: J, K, & L College and Timothy Dwight College enjoy the privilege of living in their own colleges. Silliman’s courtyard alternates as an informal athletic field, a site What to look forward to... for college festivities, and a place for quiet repose. This newsletter contains information about Over one hundred members of the faculty, staff, and the accommodations, facilities, and activities in administration are Fellows of Silliman, and they are Silliman College. It also contains important practical invited to eat in the college dining hall and participate information to keep in mind. You will find it a useful in college activities. The aim is to promote interchange guide during the first days of college. between faculty and students. Silliman is a vibrant place, alive with diverse Silliman offers a wide range of activities and is activities, facilities, traditions, and people. Master known for the enthusiasm of its students. It is a truth Nicholas Christakis, Associate Master Erika Christakis, universally acknowledged that Silliman is the coolest Dean Jessie Royce Hill, the staff and the students of college at Yale. Through participation in college Silliman are eager to get to know you. activities, conversations in the dining hall, and a wide variety of social occasions, students create the Follow Silliman @Silliman2 intellectual and cultural atmosphere that is the foundation of college life. TABLE OF CONTENTS History of the College ................. Page 3 Administration and Staff ............ Page 4 Dining Hall .............................. Page 6 Basic Information ...................... Page 7 Facilities ................................... Page 8 Programs .................................. Page 12 Activities .................................. Page 13 Fellows ..................................... Page 14 Dates to Remember..................... Page 16 Decked out in "silliswag" at the courtyard swing 2 2 History of the College original ten Yale residential colleges to be completed. enjamin Silliman (1779-1864), Yale Class of The Vanderbilt-Sheffield dormitories and Byers Hall 1796, was one of America’s pioneers in science. (now the Common Room, Dining Hall, Sillibrary, BAlthough Silliman graduated knowing nothing and Master’s and Dean’s Offices), dating from the of the natural sciences, President Timothy Dwight early 1900s, were retained in the plans. All of the asked him (to avoid hiring a foreigner brick structures, including the Master’s with whom Puritan manners and morals House, were built between 1938 and might not sit well) to become Yale’s first 1940. Over the years, our college has science professor, teaching chemistry and evolved from a dormitory intended for natural history in 1802. Silliman proved science students to a diverse yet cohesive to be eminently capable and delivered residential community. Sparing its Yale’s first science lecture in 1804. Soon freshmen from the disorder of living on afterward, President Dwight sent him to Old Campus, Silliman is the largest in Europe to purchase scientific equipment, area of all the colleges. Our buildings books for the College Library, and a boasts a tremendous array of facilities, cabinet of two thousand minerals to begin including a movie theater, digital arts lab, the study of mineralogy at Yale. After his art gallery, library, kitchen, aerobics and return, he played a leading role in the dance studio, art studio, basketball court, foundation of the Yale Medical School, the weight and fitness room, sound studio, Peabody Museum, and the American game room, and buttery. Journal of Science, a scientific periodical The colors in Silliman’s seal still published today. In 1852, Silliman refer to the four elements of the ancient was instrumental in the founding of the philosophers: red represents fire; white, Yale School of Engineering, a pioneering air and water; and green, the earth. It event in professional scientific education also carries the golden acorns from the in the United States. To honor such a family crest of Frederick W. Vanderbilt, towering figure in the history of science at Yale Class of 1876, whose bequest Yale and in America, our college was funded Silliman’s construction. Because named after Benjamin Silliman. of its legendary associations with fire, the Our ancient patron, Silliman College opened in salamander was selected as the college Ben Silliman September of 1940. It was the last of the symbol. Our friends call us Sillimanders. 3 3 Administration and Staff Master Nicholas A. Christakis Associate Master Erika Christakis Officially, Masters are charged with setting the The role of an Associate Master is hard to "intellectual, social, and ethical tone of the College." define, but I stand ready to support the Silliman On a practical level, I am here to support you, our community in any way I can. I am an early childhood wonderful Silliman students. I spend time trying to get educator with a background in public health, to know and advise students; working with our amaz- counseling, and journalism. Currently a Lecturer in ing residential staff to foster college life; and hosting Yale's Zigler Center in Child Development and Social social and academic events. I also devote energy to Policy, which is part of the Yale Child Study Center anticipating needs, whether they involve space alloca- in the medical school, I am excited about the ways tion, resources, or new programs to meet students' people learn at all stages of the lifespan and am interests. Oh, and I deliver sweets at odd hours. especially passionate about teaching Yale I'm a physician and sociologist with joint undergraduate courses in child development and appointments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (in early education. the Department of Sociology and of Ecology and A licensed teacher and former preschool Evolutionary Biology), at Yale Medical School (in the director, I am a graduate of Harvard College Department of Medicine), and at SEAS (in the (shhh...) and have amassed a small collection of Department of Biomedical Engineering). For many master's degrees in various un-lucrative but years, I was a front-line hospice doctor taking care of rewarding fields. I've also written extensively for the terminally ill patients; nowadays, I run the Human popular press on issues related to children, families, Nature Lab (which does work in the field of biosocial and culture. I am very eager to get to know science, particularly focused on social interactions and "Sillimanders" and welcome a chat at any time, and social networks), and I co-direct the Yale Institute for about any topic. Network Science. I teach Sociology 126, "Health of Nicholas and I have three grownup children, the Public." and when I'm not working on child-related issues, I I want students in Silliman to feel that they can enjoy traveling to far-off places, playing with our talk to me any time, about any subject. I am especially badly behaved dogs (Elsa and Rudy, who also reside interested in getting to know you as people -- to know in the Master's House), and spending my down time about your individual interests, hopes, aspirations, with family in Vermont. quandaries. As a graduate of Yale College, I have dis- The best way to reach me is at erika. tinct memories of residential life. And as a researcher, [email protected] my main objective is to learn how communities form and how they affect our lives. I hope to put all this background to use in helping Silliman students to have a stimulating and fulfilling experience during their years at Yale. You can find me in our dining hall and courtyard. The best way to reach me is at nicholas.christakis@ 4 yale.edu. 4 SILLIMAN OPERATIONS MANAGER Sergio González Dean Jessie Royce Hill Room 109, Byers Hall Monday to Friday, 8:30-5 The Dean is the chief academic and personal Office: (203) 432-5072 adviser to students in the college. She oversees academic progress, advising on intellectual development through courses and internships, and supports students on personal matters. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO Dean Hill has a B.A. in European History THE MASTER from Barnard College and a Master of Science degree from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Prior to coming to Silliman she served as Associate Director of Yale Undergraduate Admissions for eight years, where she also directed the on-campus interviewing program (looking for a great job, rising seniors?). Dean Hill worked as a journalist for National Public Radio (NPR) and wrote and edited for newspapers in Massachusetts before coming to Yale. She teaches narrative Joelle Siracuse nonfiction writing in the English Department and Room 111, Byers Hall Monday to Friday, 8:30-5 has been known to belt out a tune at parties upon Office: (203) 432-0700 occasion. The Dean lives in the college on the second floor of entryway H. Her husband, Dan Goren (not Mr. Hill!), is also a recovering journalist and works ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO as an attorney at Wiggin & Dana. When billables are THE DEAN up he dons his cleats on the IM soccer field. Their daughters are Lily (10) and Ada (7), and the latest addition to the family is Wilma the pup. The Dean's Office is located on the first floor of Byers Hall. Michelle Tracey Room 115, Byers Hall Monday to Friday, 8:30-5 Office: (203) 432-0701 5 5 Freshman Counselors These knowledgeable, kind, rad seniors have been appointed to assist and advise incoming members of the Silliman community, and to help them adjust to life at Yale.