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

In his report on the 1955-56 academic year, 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 Saarinen '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 existing colleges.

The cornerstone of the college was laid on Alumni Day, 1961, and students took up residence in September 1962. The college was dedicated the following December 7. The purchase of the land — previously occupied by Hillhouse High School and Commercial High School — from the City of New Haven was made possible by a grant from John Hay Whitney, Yale Class of 1926.

Design

The college, considered by many architecture critics a masterpiece of American architecture, is built of rubble masonry with buildings and a tower in the style of pre-Gothic Tuscan towers such as still exist in the medieval Italian hill town of 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.

Stiles' adjacent "twin" residential college Morse is architecturally similar, was built at the same time, and shares an underground kitchen. Architecturally, Morse and Stiles differ from older colleges by having more private space per student and the lowest ratio of natural light aperture to wall surface.

Because none of the interior walls make right angles, Stiles' dorm rooms are furnished with built-in desks and bookshelves. The college was once heated by a system that warmed the stone floors, but maintenance troubles led Yale to abandon it and install radiators.

Contrary to popular belief, the college's concrete walls were never meant to be covered with ivy.

Student life

Stiles has had success in Yale's intramural sports program, winning the Tyng Cup — presented to the residential college with the best intramural sports performance — in 1964, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 2003, 2004, and 2005. This 10-cup total places Stiles just one behind leaders Pierson College and Timothy Dwight College. More recently, the college has taken second place behind Silliman College, which won the Cup in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Ezra Stiles and Morse co-host an annual Casino Night, thought to be one of the nation's best-organized college parties. A formal affair, the event features casino-style games and live music. Nearly 3,000 people attended the 2005 event, which was planned by Stiles Activities Chairs Christina Tubb, David Nitkin, and Eric Sandberg-Zakian.

The mascot is the A. Bartlett Giamatti Memorial Moose. The stuffed moose head that graces the college dining hall was named in honor of former college Master Bart Giamatti, who in 1977 became Yale's youngest president, and in 1989 was named Commissioner of Baseball. Giamatti's son, actor Paul Giamatti, lived in the Master's House on the Ezra Stiles College grounds from birth through age five.

Residents of the tower had access through a window to the roof of the Yale Co-op, which would sometimes be covered with a sheet of ice, permitting brave students to ice skate on the open roof (without railings of course).

Masters and deans

Masters of Ezra Stiles College	Term
Richard B. Sewall	1961-?
A. Bartlett Giamatti	1970-1972
Hans Wilhelm Frei	1972-1980
Heinrich von Staden	1980-1986
Traugott Lawler	1986-1995
Paul Fry	1995-2002
Traugott Lawler	2002-2003 (Acting Master)
Stuart Schwartz	2003-2008
Stephen Pitti	2008-present

Deans of Ezra Stiles College	Term
Herbert Atherton
Susan Rieger	1992-?
Jennifer Wood	2002-Present

Notable alumni

• L. Paul Bremer III, director and proconsul of post-war Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority (ES '63)
• Dan Froomkin, political columnist and blogger, The Washington Post (ES '85)
• David Gergen, presidential advisor and political commentator (ES '63)
• Linda Jewell, diplomat, U.S. Ambassador to Ecuador (ES '75)
• Mitch Kapor, founder, Lotus Development Corp. (ES '71)
• Robert Kaiser, associate editor, The Washington Post (ES '64)
• Lloyd Kaufman, director, producer, and owner of Troma Entertainment. (ES ~'70)
• Mark Linn-Baker, actor (ES '79)
• Edward Norton, actor (ES '91)
• Alexandra Robbins, journalist and author (ES '98)
• Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island (ES '78)
• Bob Woodward, asst. managing editor and political reporter, The Washington Post (ES '65)
• Norwood S. Wilner, attorney and anti-tobacco crusader from Florida (ES '70)

External links

• Ezra Stiles College, Yale

References