Tree of Science, January 23

Schools with great history are among the oldest living entities in modern society, and among those in the United States, Williams is certainly quite old.  The very earliest, of course, were the now "ivy schools" that grew roots in the rough political regions established by the King.  We see then, Harvard, of Massachusetts,  Princeton, once the College of New Jersey, Dartmouth College of New Hampshire, Columbia, nee King's College, of New York, and so forth.  One institution was typically enough for any locale.

In the early days of the new nation, many schools grew from a desire to educate a wider population that was less willing to travel long distances.  Williams (and, eventually, Amherst) grew from early efforts to bust up Harvard's monopoly on the education of young men.

Mark and Albert Hopkins played an important role in shaping the college in its first century.  President Garfield, a graduate of Williams and advocate for its approach to education, "defined a university as 'Mark Hopkins on one end of a log and a student on the other"' (Kunitz and Haycraft, American Authors 1600-1900, p. 384).  Students and faculty new to Williams often find this characterization a great burden.   Still, Albert Hopkins built the first educational observatory not far from the Tree of Science, and its tight quarters remind us that often the best learning environments bring both the teacher and the student close enough together for both to be involved in the prayers of the other.  Perhaps that is why Williams semesters are so short?

Susan (locally, among our youth, "Suzy") Sedgwick Hopkins funded the construction of the "Hopkins Gate", the left side of which is visible here, with the Tree of Science in the distance, just to its middle right:

The origin of the phrase "Climb High, Climb Far, Your Goal the Sky, Your Aim the Star" is still somewhat unclear, though it is believed that Suzy found the phrase among the Hopkins papers.  To make the puzzle all the more interesting, the Kappa Alpha Gate at Union College, from the same era, has precisely the same admonition (from this youtube video):

As we shall see later this year, no doubt, this is not the first fraternal relationship between Williams and Union.

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The Hopkins stairs are the most direct way to West College from Spring Street in Williamstown, where several student watering holes are found.  I sometimes wonder if the inscription might not have had a slight error in spelling, and was actually meant as a reminder to students heading home on a late weekend night, distressed about the hill they had yet to climb to their rooms in old West College:

CLIMB HIGH

CLIMB FAR

YOUR GOAL

THE SKY

YOUR AIM

THE STAIR