By now you have all found out your answer to the most frequently asked question at Yale: “What college are you in?” If the answer is Timothy Dwight, feel lucky. Feel proud. Feel excited. And be ready to feel the TD spirit for which we are known.
First, there are our leaders — our parents, if you will: Master Robert Thompson, a.k.a. Master T., and Dean John Loge. These two have spent 10 years making TD the home it is, working together longer than any other master and dean combination on campus. Master T. throws the parties, with the latest hip hop/jazz/Latin band from New York, and all the pizza you can eat. Expect at least three per semester, and to see Master T. himself “kicking ass” on the dance floor with the students. Dean Loge is the one who sends the weekly “Notes and News,” with all the latest updates and his weekly writing on life. He is the one to see for anything, and his door is always open.
Through their years of effort, Dean Loge and Master T. have built a community in TD — a community with opportunities for everyone to become a part. Despite its small size, TD is one of the largest forces on the intramural fields, a competitor to be feared in all sports. We have our own literary magazine, “The Weathervane,” and newspaper, “Ashe.” TD also boasts the annual No Talent Show and Exotic Erotic, the dance where the theme is “the less you wear, the less you pay.” And if that isn’t enough, TD proudly hosts the Chubb Fellowship, which in past years has brought prominent leaders such as former President George Bush, Gov. Gary Locke of Washington, and salsa legend Eddie Palmieri to dine and speak with TDers.
We’re a close-knit group of people, and the reason has a lot to do with you. Unlike most other colleges, TD freshmen actually live in TD, giving us the chance to bond as one college, not just as individual classes. By the time classes begin, most of you will know all of your fellow freshmen. But beyond that, you’ll get to know the upperclassmen. You’ll eat with us, you’ll sleep with us, and you’ll play pickup volleyball games with us in the courtyard. If you’re smart, you’ll befriend us — we’re nice people, and if nothing else we can tell you which restaurant has the best late-night Chinese food.
Basically, you’ve got a lot to look forward to — cheering underneath our lion flag at football games, our annual snowball fight with Silliman, shouting our war cry, “ASHE,” and the fact that you’re living in the newest renovated college. Same TD spirit, same TD closeness, but with a new dining hall, library, basement and bathrooms. So be excited. Answer, “What college are you in?” with pride. And get ready to live, because now you’re a part of something special.
Carolyn Zabrycki is a junior in Timothy Dwight College.