House Outing Connects Current Students to Briarcliff Campus

[pull_quote]A large part of being a student at King’s is belonging to a House, named for an influential person in history, that provides academic, social, and spiritual support and community for its members. Each House has its own traditions.

Every year, the House of Clara Barton plans a “Barton Day Away” for its members — equal parts getaway and community building. This October, the ladies of Barton betook themselves to Barton Orchards in Poughquag, NY for their Day Away. If they had stuck strictly to that plan, we would have no story. But as they were driving, they spotted signs for Briarcliff Manor and decided to scout out the old site of The King’s College. They drove briefly through the town of Briarcliff and decided to stop again on the return trip after the orchard.

When they stopped again, freshman Emily Bingham writes, “I called my mother (a 1975 alumna) and said, ‘Guess where I am? Briarcliff Manor!’ She was overjoyed and gave us directions up the mountain to where the college used to be. A van of eight excited Bartons drove through stunning fall foliage until we saw the water tower she told us to look for. We found a sign mentioning the college and I got my mother on the phone. ‘We’re here!’ I said. I put her on speakerphone and she told the car full of students about what the school used to be like while we stood exactly where she and many alumni used to stand. She could even direct us down the road to a pond they used for ice skating. It was so special to hear some history from her while looking at the site. It was a beautiful October day, a great day for Barton, and a special moment for my mother and me.”

Emily’s mother, Ruth (Brown) Bingham, said she was surprised and moved that being on the former Briarcliff site would be so meaningful to her daughter. “That she went out of her way to find the Briarcliff campus, and hearing her excitement over the phone as she stood overlooking the Hudson where I spent 4 years, brought tears to my eyes. Added to that, she was there 40 years to the month from when I was crowned Homecoming Queen.”

Emily is a (rare) third-generation King’s student; her grandfather Richard Brown graduated from the Delaware campus in 1952. Asked whether she and her husband had prompted Emily to attend King’s, Ruth said no. But when Emily set foot on the New York City campus and knew that it was where she wanted to be, Ruth was thrilled. Although the culture at King’s has changed (“we were only allowed to go to New York City to ‘minister’), it is still, as Ruth called it, “a wonderful place from which to graduate.” Ruth expressed amazement and delight at the opportunities available to the students, and said she is pleased with the present vision at King’s. “Students are being trained to interact with New York City and the world, and not to be afraid.”

“Having our Emily at King’s is very special indeed.”