Main Lines 10 THINGS That Make Us Happy

THE TRI-COLLEGE ASIAN AMERICAN STUDIES PROGRAM’S SUCCESSFUL INAUGURAL YEAR, which saw 15 students from Haverford, Swarthmore, and Bryn Mawr declare Asian Studies minors. Among the events that marked the completion of the program’s first year was a senior recognition ceremony and an alumni panel in VCAM Lounge that featured Rebecca Chang ’19, Divya Shiv ’16, Esther Chiang BMC ’14, and Maira Karan BMC ’17.

THE RETURN OF FOUR-LEGGED FRIDAYS (formerly known as DeStress with Dogs), in which faculty and staff bring their well-behaved pups to Founders Green, where students can wander by to get in some petting, belly rubs, and behind-the-ear scratching, and receive a few wet doggy kisses. During the last week of April, Four-Legged Fridays turned into a week-long event.

The fun-filled Senior Week enjoyed by the Class of 2023. Our seniors planted a class tree, rang the bell at Founders Hall, went to a Phillies game, and hung out on Barclay Beach—enhanced by a water slide and a food truck—and more.

Haverford’s second annual Lavender Graduation, which started at Jaharis Recital Hall with a performance by student acapella group the Outskirts. Hosted by the Center for Gender Resources and Sexuality Equity, in partnership with the IDEA team (Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Access), student organizations, and other campus partners, the event celebrates LGBTQIA+ graduating seniors. This year the event featured the presentation of honor cords, lavender plants from the Arboretum, as well as 40th anniversary special editions of the student-created HerStory and HaverQueer anthologies. Watch a video of the ceremony at hav.to/fva.

The “Art of Sociology” exhibition created by Edna Creelman ’23. The sociology major and philosophy and psychology minor combined those interests with her pottery and drawing skills to fashion a collection of ceramic plates that display portraits of famous thinkers such as bell hooks, Sigmund Freud, Hannah Arendt (above), and Karl Marx. Part of a sociology independent study course, the project paired the plates with short bios of the thinkers, descriptions of their work, and Creelman’s personal recommendation of some of their writings.

THE MOVE TO UPGRADE CAMPUS PATHWAY LIGHTING TO “DARK SKY FIXTURES.” Along with ensuring safe lighting levels and providing a warmer, more visually pleasing light source, the new fixtures will minimize light pollution, which has been found to disrupt the ecosystem and wildlife, increase energy consumption, harm human health, and affect crime and safety. The first phase of the work will be completed during the current fiscal year, and includes the pathways around Lloyd Hall, the Dining Center, and Founders Hall. Over a span of about eight years, Facilities Management plans to replace all 280 of the light poles on campus.

The Hurford Center for the Arts and Humanities’ Spring Mixer, which brought together current students with alums working in arts and humanities fields for a fun evening in Philadelphia. At the April event, which was held at the Asian Arts Initiative, the more than 30 students attending got the chance to connect with 21 alums to learn about some of the many pathways to making a life in the arts.

Another installment of “Founders Porch,” a Zoom-based series featuring President Wendy Raymond in conversation with members of the College community.

On October 23, from 7–8 p.m. (EST), “Founders Porch” will bring together “Innovative Fords” Ted Love ’81, a physician, biotech innovator, and president and CEO of Global Blood Therapeutics; Melanie Travis ’08, founder and CEO of Andie swimwear; and Shayna Nickel, associate program director for the Haverford Innovations Program (HIP). Previous programs have focused on “Fords in Baseball” and “Fords in Creative Writing.”

The grants and fellowships won by some of our outstanding faculty.

Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy Daniel Grin and his co-investigator at Penn, received a $150,000 grant from the Charles E. Kaufman Foundation for research on dark matter. Assistant Professor of Spanish Lina Martínez Hernández was awarded a New Directions Fellowship from the Andrew Mellon Foundation, which supports scholars in the humanities in acquiring training outside their areas of special interest. Assistant Professor of Physics Ted Brzinski received a $129,057 research grant from the National Science Foundation to work alongside other university researchers to develop a new way of forecasting geohazards such as landslides, submarine slides, ground fissures, and liquefaction.

THE QUEER HAVERFORD: THOSE WHO CAME BEFORE EXHIBITION curated by George Allan ’24. On view in Lutnick Library through August, the exhibition draws on material from the College Archives, such as student newspapers, oral interviews, student-published magazines, and log books left by various groups to chronicle Haverford’s “queer history.” Particularly impressive is the exhibition’s 25-page companion publication, which features detailed histories of the Gay People’s Alliance (founded in 1975 as the Bi-Co’s first gay affinity group), and successor groups such as the Bisexual, Gay, and Lesbian Alliance (BGALA), and the Sexuality and Gender Alliance (SAGA).