On Monday afternoon, I helped deliver a baby boy. The woman in labor, Fatmata, was 23. This was her second child. A nurse aide trained in midwifery was directing the delivery. I thought I was just observing until she said, “Ah, so you are going to receive the baby for me today!” and handed me [...]

On a balmy November afternoon, Eugene Lang ’38, now 90 years of age, walks purposefully across the Swarthmore campus to the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility on Whittier Place. The center, directed by Professor of Sociology Joy Charlton, is hosting a gathering of Charlton’s counterparts from 26 other schools—all members of Project Pericles, [...]

Swarthmore alumni are teaching me a great deal about the College on a Listening Tour that has already taken me to Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Palo Alto; Chicago; New York City; Philadelphia; and Boston, with more stops planned this year. Some tell me about their experiences in athletics, in the arts, in clubs, and with [...]

“Fall in love!” was President Rebecca Chopp’s vehement exhortation to members of the Class of 2012 at the inaugural Sophomore Collection in October.
Chopp wasn’t talking about a cute classmate but rather an intellectual vision that would drive the sophomores to discover where their academic passions lie. She encouraged them to explore the passions of other [...]

Claudia Fagioli, 80, sports a jean jacket and purple manicure. Her hair is gelled and spiky. Seeing my black nail polish, she approves. Every Monday at lunchtime, Fagioli meets with seniors Karen Guan and Elizabeth Dickey, who are helping her write the story of her life.
Fagioli’s memories span much of the 20th century, from her [...]

Artists are notorious for working at odd times of the day and night, allowing their creative juices to flow as their muses move them. Still, the sight of 38 art students producing individual impressions of a giant fish sculpture suspended from the ceiling of the large studio in Old Tarble at 2:30 a.m. was quite [...]

Following extensive research and broad community consultation—and with the permission of the Pennsylvania Game Commission—a cull of the Crum Woods deer herd was conducted by professional sharpshooters from mid-December to mid-January, during the College’s winter break.
According to a conservation and stewardship plan completed by the Natural Lands Trust and the consulting firm Continental Conservation, an [...]

In the 2010 Swarthmore calendar, notations of three Jewish holidays—Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah—are printed incorrectly. The calendar states that these holidays begin at sundown, which is true. But they begin at sundown on the day before the day noted in the calendar, which actually notes the first full day of the holiday. The [...]

A Repeat Sweet Season for Men’s Soccer
The 2009 fall season proved that it’s never been a better time to be a fan of Swarthmore athletics. The men’s soccer team excited the entire campus with a repeat run to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16, the volleyball team defied expectations with one of the best seasons [...]

In her first public speech (listen: speech) of the new academic year—and her newborn presidency—President Rebecca Chopp asserted Swarthmore’s Quaker heritage and told members of the Class of 2013 at their First Collection that “Our founders believed that everyone should tend his/her own conscience, to ‘mind the light’ within oneself. Tonight, we induct you into [...]