To the Williams Community,
It’s with great pleasure that I write to invite you all to save the dates of two important weekends for Williams, when we’ll celebrate together the openings of the new Sawyer Library and Weston Field.
This will occur over two weekends in the fall: September 20-21 and October 11-12. First, on Saturday, September 20, as we mark the beginning of the academic year with Convocation, we will, fittingly, celebrate our new library (both the renovation of Stetson and the construction of the new building). By then the library, which will open by late summer, may still have that new-library smell, but it will surely already be a central part of the life of the college.
Convocation will take on special significance as we award Bicentennial Medals to alumni whose achievements have been in fields related to the library and the associated Book Unbound initiative. The convocation website will be updated with more details of that event as they’re available, and before long there will be a website for The Book Unbound as well, where you’ll be able to see a list of its associated courses and programming, which will last throughout the coming year and kick off in a big way in the days around Convocation.
Convocation, while occurring slightly later in the month to accommodate its integration with the library dedication, will be at its usual time and place, Saturday at 11 a.m. in Chapin Hall. We anticipate a public celebration of the library later that day, and we’ll share more details soon.
Then, three weeks later, on Saturday, October 11, as we cheer on the Ephs in home games in field hockey and football, we’ll dedicate the wonderful new Weston facilities on which they’ll be playing. This renewal of Weston will serve, among others, participants in field hockey, football, lacrosse, and track and field, and it will free up space on Cole Field for club sports, intramurals, and recreational activities.
Weston’s new football and lacrosse facility will be dedicated as Farley-Lamb Field, in honor of, naturally, legendary football and track and field coach Dick Farley and longtime men’s lacrosse and women’s squash coach Renzie Lamb (for whom the former turf field was named in 2004). We’ll also celebrate Lee Track and Williamson Field. Lee Track is named for Beth and James B. Lee ’75/’75 and their children Lexi ’04, Jamie ’06, and Izzy ’12. Williamson Field is the new home of our field hockey team and is named for Sarah Keohane Williamson ’84. Williamson and the Lees are generous supporters of the Weston project.
As with the library celebration, details of the dedication of the new Weston complex are developing. For starters, we’re likely to commemorate the occasion publicly at halftime of the football game that day.
A quick word about the current Sawyer Library building. I know that it might look like the building will be idle for some time after its operations move to the new facility, but in fact it’ll be full of activities associated with its decommissioning. As soon as we’ve moved out, the entire building will become a work site, as we begin to remove hazardous materials and dismantle interior structures and systems so that they can be reused or recycled. So even though the shell will remain intact for months, the inside will be a complicated, messy, and very active work site, unavailable for any other uses.
Meanwhile, mark your calendars for the weekends of September 20 and October 11. We’ve been anticipating the new library and sports complex for quite some time now, and I’m excited to celebrate these wonderful occasions with many of you this fall.
Regards,
Adam Falk
President
Megamenu Social