My visit to Yale University was out of the ordinary. We went to the University’s Battell Chapel, on a Sunday in mid-January, for a memorial service of a family friend. He was a Yale alum (Class of 2008) in his late 20s who clearly loved Yale and was loved by his classmates. His friends and family came out in full force to celebrate his life. His former Yale classmates spoke beautifully and eloquently about their friend and their time together. They sang a cappella, as they had with him in Yale’s Society of Orpheus and Bacchus (SOBs), the second-longest-running a cappella group in the nation… or, as they prefer to put it, 20 male friends who love to sing and have fun together. I could see and feel how these Yale students built strong, lasting friendships while working hard and playing hard at Yale.
Before the memorial service, we took the self-guided tour of Yale and visited the Yale Art Museum. Here are some photos from our tour.