I’m a history major in the Class of 2011, and my pet project over the last year has been writing a column about Swarthmore College history for our online newspaper, the Daily Gazette. You can check out my articles at http://daily.swarthmore.edu/opinions/garnet-stories/. Past topics have included Swarthmore during World War II, a history of Sharples Dining Hall, and debates about football on campus.

After working at Alumni Weekend this past June and talking with members of the Class of 1960 about their experiences at Swarthmore, I realized that I ought to include more stories from alumni. So far, I’ve almost exclusively used print documents from the college archives—old issues of the Phoenix, Halcyon, course catalogs, etc.

So, do you have any interesting stories from your days at Swarthmore that you would like to share with today’s students in my column? There are a few particular topics that I’m interested in. Were you involved in the founding of a seminal organization at Swarthmore—perhaps one of the first environmental activism or community service clubs? Do you have any insight on the place of Greek life in the College’s social scene? Do you have any entertaining stories relevant to my much-anticipated article “The History of Sex at Swarthmore?” I’m also interested in tidbits of social history that weren’t necessarily written down—things like the College’s attitudes toward alcohol, disciplinary infractions, etc.

You can e-mail me at wtreece1@swarthmore.edu. I’d sincerely appreciate any stories you have to offer. Thank you.

Will Treece ’11
Swarthmore