CALHOUN, Yale

Speranza

In 1641, John Brockston established a farm on the plot of land that is now Calhoun.

After the Revolutionary War an inn was constructed that would later become the meeting place of

The Phi Beta Kappa Society ("philosophy leads life").


From 1863 until 1874 the land was home to Yale's divinity school.

In 1933, with the institution of the new residential college system at Yale, the dormitory at the corner of College and Elm Streets became Calhoun, named for John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, B. A. 1804, alumnus, statesman, and orator.

Calhoun's statue stands in the Harkness Tower.


Like all other residential colleges at their inception, Calhoun had twenty-four hour guard service and the gates were never locked.

Jacket and tie was the necessary attire in the dining hall and meals were served at the table.

At first, Calhoun was considered an undesirable college because of its location at the corner of College Street and Elm Street, where trolleys frequently ran screeching around the corner.

This perception of Calhoun changed under the popular Master Charles Schroeder, who once remarked that if the despicable trolley service were ever removed he would purchase a trolley car, put it in the courtyard, and hold a celebration to commemorate the event.

The trolley system was indeed removed in 1949, and though a whole car proved unfeasible, Master Schroder secured the fare collecting machine from a trolley and made good on his promise to celebrate.

Thus was born Trolley Night, a proud tradition of the college.


The coat of arms designed for Calhoun combines the university arms, set atop the Cross of St. Andrew.

The college colors are black, navy blue, and gold.

In 1989, Calhoun was the first residential college to be renovated.

The renovations, mostly funded by alumnus Roger Horchow, were done quickly and over the summer to minimize disruption to student life.

By 2000, the physical plant began to show wear and tear again.


2005 saw the retirement of William and Betsy Sledge as Master and Associate Master of Calhoun.

They were succeeded by Dr. Jonathan Holloway (PhD '95) and his wife Aisling Colón.

In the same year a limited window replacement was commissioned amid Calhoun's controversial exclusion from the most recent campus-wide renovation effort.


Though partially renovated in 1989, Calhoun was fully renovated over the 2008-09 school-year.

Stephen Lassonde stepped down as the Calhoun Dean in June 2007 thus ending one of the longest tenures as dean in the College's history.

Within the Residential College system at Yale, deanships normally last only a few years, but Stephen Lassonde served as Calhoun Dean for fourteen years.

In late April 2007, he made the official announcement that he would be leaving Calhoun to serve as Deputy Dean of the College at Brown University in nearby Providence.

The new dean of Calhoun is Leslie Woodard.

Until June 2007 Dean Woodard was the director of the undergraduate creative writing program at Columbia University. A published author of short stories, Dean Woodard also has a history in the performing arts. She was a professional dancer in the Dance Theater of Harlem for a decade.
In late June 2007 Calhoun's mighty elm—host of the college's famous tire swing and shade provider for literally every Calhoun student since the college's founding—was felled. The tree was rotting from the ground up and was beginning to lean dangerously. Given the fact that the tree was actually taller than Calhoun (itself a five and six story building in different places), the tree posed a real danger to the college structure and Calhoun students.

A debate over the appropriateness of the college's name has waxed and waned, as John C. Calhoun's involvement in antebellum pro-state's-rights politics and protection of the institution of slavery has been reconsidered.

Calhoun never had significant involvement in Yale after his student years and was never a benefactor, though at the time the college was named, the prevailing view of Calhoun was that of an exceptional statesman and principled Senator.

 In 1992, the graduating seniors commissioned a plaque noting the unfortunate reality of John C. Calhoun's legacy, but at the same time supported the notion that the college retain its name for historical purposes.

The courtyard used to have a popular tire swing, which stood in stark contrast to the stunning Neo-Gothic architecture.

In the Fall of 1990, newly appointed master Turan Onat made it his first priority to remove the tire swing as he sought "to restore the courtyard to a grassier state."

The seniors immediately reinstalled the swing overnight and Onat quickly reversed his policy.

Calhoun used to be the only residential college with its own sauna.

The sauna was removed from Entryway B/C during the 2005-06 school year.


The Calhoun College Council is a student governing organization that coordinates activities and social life for the residential college.

Throughout the year, the Council organizes numerous activities including: Study Breaks, a dorm-wide dance called, Calhoun Screw, and Trolley Night, an annual dance party.


Notable alumni:

Angela Bassett, actress
John R. Bolton, US ambassador, attorney
Jonathan Coulton, singer-songwriter
Mark Dayton, 1969, Governor of Minnesota
Jodie Foster, 1985, actress
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1973, author, literary critic, professor
Paul Krugman, 1974, economist, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 2008
John Hodgman, comedian
Roger Horchow, Tony Award-winning Producer and founder of The Horchow Finale
Demetri Martin, comedian
George Packer, journalist, author, playwright
Robert Curtis Brown, actor
Kurt Hugo Schneider, internet celebrity
Claire Danes, actress
Mike Richter, ice hockey goaltender
Masters and deans[edit source | editbeta]
Masters of Calhoun CollegeTerm
Arnold Whitridge (grandson of poet Matthew Arnold)1933-42
John Charles Schroeder1942-54
Archibald Smith Foord1955-64
B. Davie Napier1964-66
R. W. B. Lewis1966-72
Robert Wilhelm1972-73
Charles T. Davis1973-80
B. Davie Napier1980-84
Ramsay MacMullen1984-90
E. Turan Onat1990-95
William H. Sledge1995-2005
Jonathan Holloway2005-present
Amy Hungerford (acting)2011-2012
Deans of Calhoun CollegeTerm
Stephen Windsor Reed1963-66
Jefferey Barnouw1966-69
Robert Wilhelm1969-72
Eustace Theodore1972-81
Nancy Baker1981-82
David Spadafora1982-85
John Godfrey1985-89
Chris Taylor1989-91
David Schwartz1991-1993
Stephen Lassonde1993-2007
Leslie Woodard2007-present


References

Jump up ^ "Master Jonathan Holloway". Calhoun College. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
Jump up ^ "Dean Leslie Woodard". Calhoun College. Retrieved 25 March 2013.
Jump up ^ Calhoun College Home Page Archived 13 February 2011 at WebCite
Jump up ^ Yale Alumni Magazine: Milestones Archived 13 February 2011 at WebCite
Jump up ^ http://calhouncollege.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21&Itemid=18/
Jump up ^ "Calhoun College Council". Yale University. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
External links[edit source | editbeta]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Calhoun College

Calhoun College, Yale
The Beginning of Yale Residential Colleges