Йель университетінің Сіллиман колледжі тарихы мен ерекшеліктері

Silliman College is a residential college at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, named for scientist and Yale professor Benjamin Silliman. It opened in September 1940 as the last of the original ten residential colleges, and contains buildings constructed as early as 1901. Silliman is Yale's largest residential college by its footprint, occupying most of a city block. The tract later became one of the blocks of New Haven's original nine square city plan. Yale's first buildings on the site were for the Sheffield Scientific School. Byers Hall, a three story building of Indiana limestone, was built in 1903 and designed by Hiss and Weekes architects in the modified French Renaissance Style. The Vanderbilt Sheffield dormitory, a five story building of the same material, was built between 1903 and 1906 by architect Charles C. Haight in the Gothic Revival style. In 1936, the university demolished the block of university buildings and houses that stood at the site, retaining only Van Sheff, Byers Hall, and the adjacent St. Anthony Hall society building. The New Haven home of Noah Webster, occupied by its namesake from 1822 to 1843, was one of the structures scheduled for demolition. During ensuing controversy over the home's preservation, Henry Ford purchased the building and had it disassembled and re erected at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. A plaque now marks the site of the Webster House on the college's northeast corner.

Silliman College's shield has a white background, three curving red lines emerging from near the bottom of the shield (representing salamander tails), and a green crossing bar containing three acorns. In heraldic terms, the shield is described as "Arms: Argent, three piles wavy gules, on a fess vert three acorns or." The colors represent the four ancient elements: red for fire, white for air and water, and green for earth. The acorns are an element taken from the family arms of Frederick Vanderbilt, 1876, who funded the college's construction. The college's mascot is the salamander. Students in the college refer to themselves as Sillimanders.

The college courtyard, which covers almost an entire city block, is the largest enclosed courtyard at Yale and is one of the glories of the old college. Students can be seen playing various sports or lounging in the sun. Because of the size of the courtyard, sports such as spikeball, wiffle ball, football, and frisbee are often enjoyed. Special facilities within Silliman include Yale's only undergraduate art gallery, called Maya's Room (named for Maya Tanaka Hanway, '83), a big screen movie theater (Silliflicks), a dance studio, a half court basketball facility called the Sillidome, computing facilities, a student kitchen, multiple music practice rooms, and a state of the art sound recording studio. The college's library, located in the third floor of Byers Hall, is commonly referred to as the Sillibrary. The Buttery, a student run eatery in the basement that serves greasy goodness on weekday nights, is designed in the style of the 1950s and its surrounding area includes games such as ping pong, air hockey, and pool.

Silliman College has won the Tyng Cup (awarded for the best intramural record of Yale's 14 residential colleges) eight times, in 1941, 1943, 1968, 1969, 1972, 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Silliman gained fame when the popular movie Mona Lisa Smile featuring Julia Roberts, Julia Stiles and Kirsten Dunst, was partly filmed in the Silliman College courtyard and common room. The Grove Street facade of Silliman was used to represent Harvard University, and the Wall Street Gate and the common room were used to represent Wellesley College.