A universal experience of first-year orientation week is begrudgingly hiking up the hill to Alumnae House to receive one’s first Vassar Devil—a traditional sundae-like dessert. For the Classes of 2024 and 2025, this tradition was starkly different, as the former did not have an orientation week and the latter received a version of the tradition modified to accommodate social distancing. As a current senior and junior, we have long been wistful about this missed experience, but we were privileged enough to experience a milestone in the history of Alumnae House: The centennial.
The space primarily serves as a hotel for visitors to campus, but has also hosted exciting student events throughout our years at Vassar, including the Loeb Gala, which celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, and the recent 100 Nights, which commemorated the 100-day mark until graduation for the Class of 2024. This past week, however, we were able to come together in community to celebrate Alumnae House, joining with alumnae/i, underclassmen, friends and family.
The festivities began with a procession from Vassar’s Library Lawn, through and up toward the house. The procession was composed of current members of the campus community, including many student athletes, and was accompanied by a brass band that announced the presence of the celebrants. Attendees gathered on the steps and in the driveway of Alumnae House to witness the procession as it made its way up the steep hill. After the procession arrived at the front steps of the building, a tap dance performance by Vassar on Tap was admired by the crowd on the front terrace. This series of events was concluded by a ceremonial cavalcade around the front loop of Alumnae House. An antique cerulean blue car looped around the driveway, with President of the College, Elizabeth Bradley, in the backseat.
After this series of events, much of the crowd filtered inside to the spacious rooms of Alumnae House. An initial attraction was the historic guestbook, which is often signed by visitors upon arrival. Guests then lined up in the lobby to receive their name tags with their full name and class year. On a side table was a selection of keepsakes, including programs describing the history of the hotel, chocolate bars engraved with the image of the house and a bookmark.
In an adjoining room, guests circled the outskirts of the room and sampled light fare snacks including sliders, desserts, charcuterie-style nibbles and drinks of various kinds catered by campus favorite, Twisted Soul. As we weaved through the throng of guests, we found another back room with seating and a bar area. Here, we were able to obtain the highly coveted Vassar Devils and Vassar Angels. For the uninitiated, the former consists of a hefty chunk of devil’s food cake, topped with marshmallow fluff, a cold scoop of vanilla ice cream and a generous drizzle of fudge. The latter is essentially the same, but uses a white vanilla cake instead of the traditional chocolatey devil’s food cake. For the two of us, obtaining these desserts with relative freedom was a new experience. One of us never actually got to enjoy a Devil during her first week at Vassar, and the other had a predetermined, structured block of time during which she could eat her Vassar Devil, in an effort to space people out and allow for social distancing. As we enjoyed the treats we long craved, we were able to flip through archived materials like old pub menus, advertisements and postcards. We lamented the loss of the pub and restaurant that had once resided within Alumnae House, where you could order a warm cup of mac and cheese or a Vassar Devil whenever you pleased.
Throughout the house, guests of all class years were found socializing and reminiscing on their various definitions of the “Vassar experience.” The two of us found that this event in and of itself was a quintessential example of the “Vassar experience”—we were able to spend time with each other outside of studying and business, meet and talk to members of the Vassar community who no longer attend this school, and admire one of the most beautiful and historic buildings on campus. For the one of us who is a senior, it was a slightly bittersweet experience to think about how I will very soon be on the other side of this interaction—as an alum rather than as a current student.
About halfway through the evening, President Bradley and President of the Alumnae/i Association of Vassar College Monica Vachher ’77 took to the floor in one of the larger sitting rooms in Alumnae House. They spoke fondly of the Vassar community, time spent in Alumnae House and the opportunity to be together for such an important milestone in the campus’ history. While we were unable to visually locate the two speakers, blocked by the excited, buzzing crowd, the warmth of their tones relayed to us their feelings about participating in such an event, feelings that we were also experiencing.
We came away from the event with a new appreciation and love for the Vassar community: Its people, its places, its experiences. On our way out of the celebration, we both signed our names in the guestbook, right next to each other forever, along with all of the other alumnae/i and Vassar community members who have signed that storied volume. As proof of the importance of this Alumnae House tradition, a picture of the guestbook was posted to Vassar’s Instagram in a series of photos celebrating the commemoration event. If you zoom in carefully, you can see the spot where we have both signed the page, a fitting testament to the experience of being a Vassar student.
