Hello Everyone,
When I arrived at my friends’ house in Richmond, VA, I was very excited to learn that we had been invited to attend a graduation at Yale University. I took lots of notes, and some pictures for you to be able to share the experience with me. After all, not many of us ever get to Yale!
Friday, May 21, 2010
We arrived at 8:30 pm at the hotel in Milford, CT which is about 10 miles south of New Haven on I-95. The drive up took eleven hours on I-95! I could have flown much quicker, but I thought that would be rude to my hosts. So I just settled in for the drive.
We were glad we made the whole trip today, should be able to stay up for tomorrow night’s festivities. Hotel is filling up, looks like there are two graduations this weekend.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Our friends, the graduates’ parents called around 9:30 am, they were only 30 minutes away! They made record time and had no hold ups with traffic. They had to move some of their son’s stuff into storage, so we had a look around Milford, very pretty place. An Irish coffee and a beer overlooking the harbor was delightful. We had a quick walk along the beach, and then met up with our friends for our first look at Yale. Apparently it was started by a gentleman named Eli Yale, who broke away from Harvard. The story I heard was that Harvard had become too liberal. Obviously there has been great rivalry between the two schools ever since. The buildings are quite old and one especially impressive one is the wonderful library.
We attended a reception at the President’s house, there was a very long line to get in. He shook hands with everyone, and congratulated us - I guess on being at Yale! I didn’t realize his house had lots of artwork. A Turner and a Constable, that I would have loved to have seen, but alas, we rushed thru and missed them.
We had a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, then headed to Sprague Memorial Hall for the Glee Club Concert. It was excellent! They sang a variety of songs, some written by Yale grads but the funniest was toward the end when four bright lads came on stage with no shirts on and Y A L E painted, or probably chalked, one letter on each chest. They all sang the Yale Football Melody, which includes “Boola, Boola”!
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
We left the hotel around 9:15 am and got back at 10:20 that night. It was a really long day. However, the first thing was the Baccalaureate Service in Woolsey Hall. We were scheduled to attend the 11:00 am service. We arrived at 10, and joined the line which was already a block long! We were across the street from the cemetery where lots of notable Yale people are buried, and there were pigeons there too. I went over to say hello, but didn’t stay long, since I was afraid I’d lose my place in line. The hall is a fabulous old building, with a pipe organ that would put any Cathedrals’ to shame. Gorgeous ceiling paintings, and a balcony all around the sides and back. Yale has been holding a Baccalaureate Service for over three hundred years. Since there is such a diversity now of faiths on campus, after the opening prayer, by the University Chaplain, Sharon Kugler, three students each read a sacred text. The first was an old testament psalm for Judaism, the second from the New Testament for Christianity, and the third from the Qur’an for Islam. The President of Yale University, Dr. Richard Levin, whom we’d met the previous day gave, what I thought to be, a super speech, and it was a lovely service.
Later on was the Class Day Exercises. For this all the grads, 1,350 of them all wore funny hats. Quite an odd tradition, but very funny, original, inventive, etc. my new found friend wore a Darth Vador Mask, which served as a hat when flipped up. I saw one “Sorting Cap” from Harry Potter, and some inventive girl had stuck sneakers to a ring that balanced on her head. One brave lad wore a “Miss Me Yet” picture of George Bush. I say brave because Yale is a very liberal school.
The Class Day speaker was former President Bill Clinton. I have to say we all thought he was excellent. Both his message, and presentation were truly good. And, surprisingly non-political. We were not able to find seats close to the stage, but thankfully there were several giant screens erected.
The Senior Class had made a movie, which was about not leaving any stone unturned. I thought it was rather good. I think the graduates were each given a video of the entire program, I hope so, it would be lovely to look back on in years to come.
We grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby deli before attending the reception given by our graduates’ College Master Judith B. Krauss and President Hugh M. Flick, Jr. That was much more enjoyable that the previous day since there were fewer people there. They served a very nice champagne punch and lots of goodies to eat, sausage rolls, spanakopita, and various other savory pick ups, plus huge strawberries and cake and cookies. We sat in the big marquee that had been set up for the actual diploma presentations that would take place tomorrow.
That evening we returned to Woolsey Hall for a concert by the Wiffenpoofs, which were fabulous, and the women’s senior acapella group, which was a little disappointing. The guys were very funny, good, and easily understood. The girls background totally overshadowed the front soloist, and none of the words were audible, except for one girl who sang about falling in love with the Latte Boy at her local Starbucks. It was a cute song.
Monday, May 24th, 2010
The third day, and I think, perhaps, both grads and guests were ready to get on with the presentation of the diplomas. First though, all the grads and masters do this huge parade around the green, rain threatened, but it held off. We didn’t know ahead of time that there would be Honorary Degrees presented, so as we stood behind ribboned off sidewalks, closely guarded by campus police, we saw two limos arrive, and two enormous
bodyguards got out of one, and opened the door for --------- none other than Aretha Franklin. She arrived to be presented with an honorary degree in Music. Had I known who it was, without having to ask, I might have called out to her. That ceremony was a bit of a zoo. Thousands of people there, and we couldn’t really even see the big screens. We eventually wound our way back to Silliman college for the final moment that we all came to see. The Master gave a really lovely talk. Wish I could have taped it. Then each Senior, over 300, received their diplomas. We have never been in the company of so many people, so much smarter than we are! The number of kids with double majors was quite amazing. Some of the subjects, I didn’t even know what they were!
After taken some final pictures and saying goodbye to our friends, we headed south on I-95 again, anxious to get passed NY as early as possible and arrived at Atlantic City by about 7:40 pm.
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Lay in - at last! Super buffet breakfast, and a stroll along the Boardwalk. We left Atlantic City a little poorer than when we arrived, but overall had a wonderful time.
I’ve had time to rest up now, and my friends tell me they are sending me off across the Atlantic! I can’t wait to see where I’ll end up. I’ll be in touch…….Edgar
When I arrived at my friends’ house in Richmond, VA, I was very excited to learn that we had been invited to attend a graduation at Yale University. I took lots of notes, and some pictures for you to be able to share the experience with me. After all, not many of us ever get to Yale!
Friday, May 21, 2010
We arrived at 8:30 pm at the hotel in Milford, CT which is about 10 miles south of New Haven on I-95. The drive up took eleven hours on I-95! I could have flown much quicker, but I thought that would be rude to my hosts. So I just settled in for the drive.
We were glad we made the whole trip today, should be able to stay up for tomorrow night’s festivities. Hotel is filling up, looks like there are two graduations this weekend.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Our friends, the graduates’ parents called around 9:30 am, they were only 30 minutes away! They made record time and had no hold ups with traffic. They had to move some of their son’s stuff into storage, so we had a look around Milford, very pretty place. An Irish coffee and a beer overlooking the harbor was delightful. We had a quick walk along the beach, and then met up with our friends for our first look at Yale. Apparently it was started by a gentleman named Eli Yale, who broke away from Harvard. The story I heard was that Harvard had become too liberal. Obviously there has been great rivalry between the two schools ever since. The buildings are quite old and one especially impressive one is the wonderful library.
We attended a reception at the President’s house, there was a very long line to get in. He shook hands with everyone, and congratulated us - I guess on being at Yale! I didn’t realize his house had lots of artwork. A Turner and a Constable, that I would have loved to have seen, but alas, we rushed thru and missed them.
We had a nice dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant, then headed to Sprague Memorial Hall for the Glee Club Concert. It was excellent! They sang a variety of songs, some written by Yale grads but the funniest was toward the end when four bright lads came on stage with no shirts on and Y A L E painted, or probably chalked, one letter on each chest. They all sang the Yale Football Melody, which includes “Boola, Boola”!
Sunday, May 23rd, 2010
We left the hotel around 9:15 am and got back at 10:20 that night. It was a really long day. However, the first thing was the Baccalaureate Service in Woolsey Hall. We were scheduled to attend the 11:00 am service. We arrived at 10, and joined the line which was already a block long! We were across the street from the cemetery where lots of notable Yale people are buried, and there were pigeons there too. I went over to say hello, but didn’t stay long, since I was afraid I’d lose my place in line. The hall is a fabulous old building, with a pipe organ that would put any Cathedrals’ to shame. Gorgeous ceiling paintings, and a balcony all around the sides and back. Yale has been holding a Baccalaureate Service for over three hundred years. Since there is such a diversity now of faiths on campus, after the opening prayer, by the University Chaplain, Sharon Kugler, three students each read a sacred text. The first was an old testament psalm for Judaism, the second from the New Testament for Christianity, and the third from the Qur’an for Islam. The President of Yale University, Dr. Richard Levin, whom we’d met the previous day gave, what I thought to be, a super speech, and it was a lovely service.
Later on was the Class Day Exercises. For this all the grads, 1,350 of them all wore funny hats. Quite an odd tradition, but very funny, original, inventive, etc. my new found friend wore a Darth Vador Mask, which served as a hat when flipped up. I saw one “Sorting Cap” from Harry Potter, and some inventive girl had stuck sneakers to a ring that balanced on her head. One brave lad wore a “Miss Me Yet” picture of George Bush. I say brave because Yale is a very liberal school.
The Class Day speaker was former President Bill Clinton. I have to say we all thought he was excellent. Both his message, and presentation were truly good. And, surprisingly non-political. We were not able to find seats close to the stage, but thankfully there were several giant screens erected.
The Senior Class had made a movie, which was about not leaving any stone unturned. I thought it was rather good. I think the graduates were each given a video of the entire program, I hope so, it would be lovely to look back on in years to come.
We grabbed a quick lunch at a nearby deli before attending the reception given by our graduates’ College Master Judith B. Krauss and President Hugh M. Flick, Jr. That was much more enjoyable that the previous day since there were fewer people there. They served a very nice champagne punch and lots of goodies to eat, sausage rolls, spanakopita, and various other savory pick ups, plus huge strawberries and cake and cookies. We sat in the big marquee that had been set up for the actual diploma presentations that would take place tomorrow.
That evening we returned to Woolsey Hall for a concert by the Wiffenpoofs, which were fabulous, and the women’s senior acapella group, which was a little disappointing. The guys were very funny, good, and easily understood. The girls background totally overshadowed the front soloist, and none of the words were audible, except for one girl who sang about falling in love with the Latte Boy at her local Starbucks. It was a cute song.
Monday, May 24th, 2010
The third day, and I think, perhaps, both grads and guests were ready to get on with the presentation of the diplomas. First though, all the grads and masters do this huge parade around the green, rain threatened, but it held off. We didn’t know ahead of time that there would be Honorary Degrees presented, so as we stood behind ribboned off sidewalks, closely guarded by campus police, we saw two limos arrive, and two enormous
bodyguards got out of one, and opened the door for --------- none other than Aretha Franklin. She arrived to be presented with an honorary degree in Music. Had I known who it was, without having to ask, I might have called out to her. That ceremony was a bit of a zoo. Thousands of people there, and we couldn’t really even see the big screens. We eventually wound our way back to Silliman college for the final moment that we all came to see. The Master gave a really lovely talk. Wish I could have taped it. Then each Senior, over 300, received their diplomas. We have never been in the company of so many people, so much smarter than we are! The number of kids with double majors was quite amazing. Some of the subjects, I didn’t even know what they were!
After taken some final pictures and saying goodbye to our friends, we headed south on I-95 again, anxious to get passed NY as early as possible and arrived at Atlantic City by about 7:40 pm.
Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
Lay in - at last! Super buffet breakfast, and a stroll along the Boardwalk. We left Atlantic City a little poorer than when we arrived, but overall had a wonderful time.
I’ve had time to rest up now, and my friends tell me they are sending me off across the Atlantic! I can’t wait to see where I’ll end up. I’ll be in touch…….Edgar
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