Above left: "Conductor" Ernie Anderson passed out replicas of old ticket transfers once used on this 1911 trolley car. Above right: Even Abraham Pierson (a.k.a. Kenneth Korsu) made an appearance at the festival. As the University's first president three centuries ago, he wears an I.D. showing him as Yale Employee #00001.

Yale, Yale, the gang's all here...having fun at the festival

At one point during the Yale 300 Festival, Abraham Pierson -- one of the University's founders and its first rector, or president -- was explaining why he didn't look like himself when he ran into a long-lost relative. "Pierson" was actually Kenneth Korsu, director of benefits in Yale's Department of Human Resource Services, wearing a wig and Colonial clergyman's black cap and coat. His "long-lost relative" was Churchill Davenport '70, whose ancestor had married a member of the real Pierson's family way back when. The two were among the estimated 30,000 University employees, alumni, students and their families, as well as New Haven-area neighbors, who came to the Yale Bowl on Oct. 5 for the Yale 300 Festival, part of the University's final Tercentennial Weekend celebration. Korsu was portraying Abraham Pierson (ca. 1641-1706) as part of Human Resource Services' display titled "It Takes a Lot of Great People To Make a Great University." Wearing a huge University I.D. card that listed Pierson as Yale Employee #00001, Korsu enthusiastically regaled passers-by with information about the pastor's life and times. Korsu admitted to one group of admirers that he didn't look like the image on the I.D., which was a photo of Pierson's statue on Old Campus. In fact, Korsu explained, there is no likeness of the real Pierson; the statue, which was created in 1874, is a composite based on portraits of Pierson's family members. "I may look more like Pierson than he does," said Korsu, pointing to the statue's photo. Korsu only recently became an expert on Pierson, he admitted. "I've read up a lot in the last two weeks." His knowledge was put to the test, however, when alumnus Churchill Davenport approached, proclaiming, "I'm a relative of yours." The two men proceeded to converse about marriages, deaths and other centuries-old occurrences. "For someone who's only been studying for two weeks, he's learned a lot," said Davenport, who counts among his ancestors the Reverend John Davenport, one of the founders of New Haven Colony and the man for whom one of Yale's 12 residential colleges is named. In fact, the alumnus contended proudly, he represents the 11th generation of Davenports to attend Yale College. Inside the human resources booth, visitors were invited to take a quiz about the University's staff and faculty, with questions such as "How many people work in the Yale School of Medicine?" (Answer: 4,600, almost 45% of the University's workforce -- and that does not include Yale-New Haven Hospital, which is a separate entity.) "How many University job vacancies are filled each year?" (Answer: 1,800.) And, "How much did Yale pay out last year in salaries and wages (excluding fringe benefits)?" "Look at all those zeroes," said Dana Lefebvre, pointing to the correct answer to the last question -- $602,000,000. "Of course, I know that because that's my job," added Lefebvre, who is manager of compensation. She explained that the quiz was designed to illustrate the huge area encompassed by human resources. That exhibit was just one of several dozen booths and displays that lined the perimeter of the Yale Bowl during the Yale 300 Festival. While some of these were sponsored by New Haven-area businesses and organizations, most were hosted by Yale groups and departments. The displays showcased everything from the work being done by Yale scientists on robotics and the environment, to the treasures in the University's art collections, to its athletic offerings, to the outreach work by medical, nursing and public health personnel, to Yale's economic and community development efforts. Many of the displays offered free prizes or giveaways. Outside the tent sponsored by the Yale Center for International and Area Studies (YCIAS) stood a map of the world. Visitors were greeted with the question "Where were you born?" and a sticker was placed on the appropriate spot on the map. "They say there are 115 nations represented at Yale. We're trying to get a record of that," explained Ellen Wang, whose husband is a postdoctoral student at Yale and who was volunteering at the YCIAS booth. Although the festival had only been open a half hour, dots were already scattered across the map, from the tips of South America and Africa to points far north and over every continent. Visitors were then issued a "passport" and invited to take part in hands-on activities sponsored by the center's area councils. Pam Miller, a technical manager of administrative systems in Information Technology Services (ITS), watched as her daughter, Emily, created a drum from a wooden framework and cellophane tape in the African Studies Council section of the "world tour." She had also brought her son, Nathaniel, to the event. "I think there will be plenty of things to keep them hopping until the show starts at seven o'clock," said Miller, referring to the Tercentennial Show inside the Yale Bowl, which followed the festival. Nearby in the East Asian Studies section, Barry Braman tried his hand at calligraphy. A Hamden resident, Braman doesn't work for the University, but has followed Yale's 300th birthday celebration closely. He attended the campus-wide Open House that kicked off the celebration last October, as well as other Tercentennial events throughout the year. "I've been going to lots of them," he said. Maureen DaRos, a museum assistant at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, had worked during last year's Open House leading "backstage" tours of the museum's collections. She was at the festival "just enjoying myself," she said, but did stop by the Peabody's display to say "hi" to her co-workers and have her photo taken with a likeness of Hiram Bingham, the Yale historian who led the expedition that discovered Machu Picchu, the holy city of the Inca in Peru, in 1911. DaRos donned a broad-brimmed weather-beaten hat for the photo. "I think it's my boss' hat," she said, referring to Peabody director and Yale anthropologist Professor Richard Burger, who has also studied ancient Peruvian culture and is curator-in-charge of the "Peru: Village to Empire" exhibit now on view at the museum. Not far away from the Peabody display was a yellow-and-black trolley car bearing the sign "Yale Field." The car, part of the collection of the Shore Line Trolley Museum in East Haven, "was built in 1911 and last used Thanksgiving Day 1947," explained Ernie Anderson, who was dressed as a conductor and issued authentic-looking "transfers" to those who climbed aboard. "This is how you got to the Yale Bowl in the good old days," said Anderson. Watching an electric toy trolley move along its tracks in the Eli Whitney Museum's display in the Tercentennial Tots Village portion of the festival, Ron Ward mused, "I grew up in New Haven. I remember when those trolleys used to run." Ward, assistant facilities manager at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (FES), was at the festival with his wife, Jaci-Beth, a programmer analyst in human resources, and their two children, Jacob and Hannah. "The kids are enjoying the children's area," said Ward. In addition to the Eli Whitney Museum display, which also included an antique "vibrating" Yale Bowl football game, the Tercentennial Tots Village featured booths where youngsters could don medical garb and have their photos taken with a teddy bear "patient"; pitch a baseball and have the speed clocked by a radar gun; and run with a football through a cushion-covered obstacle course. At one display, titled "Yale Law School in the Community," students from the Amistad Academy, a Yale-affiliated New Haven middle school, described its unique approach. "We have our own micro-society," complete with its own courts, businesses, banks and legislature, explained eighth-grader Tina Holden, and each student has a role within that society. "It's to teach us about the real world," said Holden, who serves as a "legislator" at the academy. Nearby, members of the student group The Anti-Gravity Society showed off their juggling prowess. As Peter Schell '02 of Ezra Stiles College prepared to juggle bowling pins while riding a unicycle, classmate John Norbury of Calhoun College joked with the audience, "If he does this it won't last long, so clap early." Having successfully completed that task, Schell moved on to his next trick: juggling knives. As he twirled the bayonets with apparent ease, Schell warned the youngsters in the audience, "Do not try this trick at home. For that matter, don't try it anywhere." Other Yale students entertained the crowds with their diverse talents. The grounds were peppered with strolling a capella student groups, which stopped here and there to perform a song or two before moving on. Instrument-wielding musicians performed on Stage 300 and the Bulldog Bandstand, as well as points between, filling the air with a smorgasbord of sound -- from jazz to ragtime to rock to folksong. Members of the varsity fencing team demonstrated their sparring skills, and dancers from Yale's student troupes performed. Many students also attended the festival just for the fun of it. Tiffannee Green '03 of Jonathan Edwards College invited her family to attend the Tercentennial celebration "instead of coming up for Parents Weekend." The clan -- including her mom, Agnes; her dad, Lindsey; her sister, Bridgette; and her aunt, Glenda Briscoe -- enjoyed some of the many culinary offerings at the festival, while contemplating what to do next. Most of them agreed that their favorite display so far had been the one sponsored by Academic Media & Technology, part of ITS, where visitors could get their photo put on a button. "We're going back to pick up ours," said the Yale junior. Members of the crowd also toted their own cameras and snapped eagerly while friends and family posed with such "celebrities" as Handsome Dan. Yale's official mascot was just one of many bulldogs in attendance. In addition to members of the Bulldog Club of Connecticut, who had their own "Pup Tent" display, lovers of the stout and jowly creatures were on hand everywhere. Nicholas Desaulniers, age 11, had come to the festival with his bulldog pal, Winston. "You can pet him if you like," the youngster offered to all who approached. "He loves the attention." As the bright blue sky faded to twilight, some members of the crowd began drifting to the portals of the Yale Bowl to find their seats for the Tercentennial Show, while others hurried to squeeze in one more exhibit. "I'm astonished at the spread of this thing," said Gibney Patterson '44 of Fairfield, who was there with his classmate, Dr. Nicholas Green of North Haven. "We were at the Convocation earlier today," noted Patterson, "And now we're looking forward to the show." -- By LuAnn Bishop YALE 300:MARKINGAMILESTONE Community Celebrates Yale's 300th Year 'For God, For Country, For Yale ... 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