Berkeley College is a residential college at Yale University, opened in 1934. The eighth of Yale's 12 residential colleges, it was named in honor of Reverend George Berkeley (1685–1753), dean of Derry and later bishop of Cloyne, in recognition of the assistance in land and books that he gave to Yale in the 18th century. Built on the site of a group of buildings known from the 1890s until 1933 as the Berkeley Oval, the college was renovated in 1998.
Berkeley freshmen are housed in Lanman-Wright Hall, renovated in 2014.
Dining Hall: The dining hall is named in honor of Joseph Fogg.
Buttery: A place where students gather to watch movies, engage in fellowship, and eat late night snacks.
Library: Also known as "Laz," the popular 24-hour study space is named in honor of George Lazarus and Shelly Lazarus.
South Court Basement: In addition to the buttery, the South Court basement contains a pool table, a football table, table tennis, and a free NBA Jam video arcade machine. Berkeley students can be found studying and socializing here every night of the week.
Multipurpose Room: A half-court space to play basketball, it is also frequently used for practicing yoga or student orchestra rehearsals. It can be reserved through the Master's Office.
North Court Basement: Home to The Thomas Mendenhall, this includes a luxurious sitting area and is equipped with a very large entertainment center.
The Swiss Room: A private dining room in the dining hall. Transplanted piece by piece from Switzerland, this 16th-century wooden room has been decorated with stained glass by G. Owen Bonawit and is considered priceless. Access is restricted to fellows and Berkeley events.
The woodshop: A woodworking shop that is well-stocked with power tools and lumber. A professional cabinetmaker comes to Berkeley most weekends to teach students the trade.
The tunnel: An underground passageway connecting Berkeley's two grand courts, North Court and South Court, which are divided by a grassy area in front of Yale's main library, Sterling Memorial Library. It stands steps away from the Beinecke Library, the Bass Library, the Commons, and the Old Campus. The tunnel features a variety of student murals on the walls and is a convenient pathway on rainy or snowy days.
On the wall outside the Head's House that faces Sterling Memorial Library, there is a plaque stating that its location marks the house where Josiah Willard Gibbs lived.
The Head's House was named as the Swensen House in 2013 to honor Berkeley Fellow David Swensen's enormous contributions to Yale as the Chief Investment Officer.
Similar to other residential colleges, Berkeley has its own gym, seminar rooms, and other amenities.
Annual traditions include the Bishop Berkeley Birthday Dinner for fellows and seniors, Thunder Brunch, Italian Dinner, a snowball fight (which pits North Court against South Court), GLO (a blacklight party), and the Bishop Bash, which was founded in the spring of 2002 by Ben Reiter and Charles Finch - under the guidance of the Head's Office.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Berkeley had the best college dining hall in the country: until 2006 it was the testing ground for an experimental organic food and sustainable produce dining plan overseen by celebrity chef Alice Waters. Currently, the dining hall has joined the rest of the residential colleges in serving the same menu, thereby rescinding its unique status. It still remains an immensely popular place to eat, largely due to its central location on campus. This immense popularity has led to the closure of Berkeley's dining hall to non-Berkeley students every Monday night, beginning in the fall of the 2012-2013 academic year.
Potter Stewart, 1937, U.S. Supreme Court justice
Fareed Zakaria, editor of Newsweek International
Jordana Brewster, actress
Rakesh Mohan, economist, executive director of the International Monetary Fund
Steve Charnovitz, law professor
David Evans, Head of Berkeley College, professor of Geology and Geophysics
Richard Albert, Comparative constitutional law professor
Stephen Fishbach, Runner-up, Survivor Tocantins
Dick Cheney, Vice President of the United States (attended, did not graduate)
On the television show Gilmore Girls, Logan Huntzberger is a member of Berkeley College.
