Ancient Gleeks

Glee redefined what it means to be different, a little off-center, or just plain weird, leaving a mammoth footprint in pop culture and the hearts of the underdog in us all. You may have wondered why then Vassar, in its culture of quirk, and with a thriving a cappella scene doesn’t have a glee-club. Well, it’s probably because we’ve been there and done that.

In the winter of 1882, then director of the School of Music, Professor Frederick Ritter organized VC’s first glee club. It was a resounding (no pun intended) success spawning numerous concerts with the glee clubs of MIT, Smith, Princeton, Harvard and other colleges, and performances  and concerts across the country.

Although we do know that the glee scene at VC still existed through the late 1950s, it is unclear what exactly became of it, or when exactly whatever it is happened. Perhaps we simply evolved from Glee to Pitch Perfect? In any case, we do know that while the glee scene lasted, it featured some pretty famous and controversial alumnae, including the eternally boss Edna St. Vincent Millay and Vassar’s first black graduate, Anita Hemmings.

Although our a capella scene is pretty great, it might be awesome to gleek out again though, no?

Not Your Everyday Saint

Think Meryl Streep is Vassar’s sole claim to fame? Think again.

First woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and remarkable lyrical poet, Edna St. Vincent Millay attended Vassar from 1913 to 1917. Millay was always recognized for her unapologetic individuality and her superior artistic ability. She was actually offered a scholarship to attend Vassar after impressing a guest at a party with her poetic prowess! The artist thrived at Vassar, writing the winning song for the 1916 Founder’s Day and the words for her graduation’s “Baccalaureate Hymn.”

But in addition to her talents, Millay was famous for her bold escapades at Vassar. The openly bisexual literary genius’s antics included daring then President MacCracken to expel her, skipping class due to being “in pain with a poem”, and pushing the boundaries so far that she was forbidden to sing the “Baccalaureate Hymn” at her graduation – the very one she composed! She is also famed to have had quite a penchant for flinging herself out of Jewett windows in attempts at suicide – thrice. The first time, she fell into a tree that broke her fall. The second time, it was from too short a height to do much damage. And her third attempt at diving to her death…she bounced, like a ball.

Yet although the tales of Millay’s legendary leaps are most probably false, her brazen badass-ery among her other traits and achievements, unequivocally qualify her for the title Saint Superwoman.