When prospective students visit Yale, they undoubtedly learn about the residential college system: before arriving at Yale for orientation, every freshman is randomly assigned to one of Yale’s twelve residential colleges, where they will live, eat, sleep, and study for the next four years. The colleges are quite different from one another: some have movie theaters, some have pottery studios, and others have amazing gyms; they range in size from huge Silliman, which occupies an entire block to petite Trumbull; they’re all built in different architectural styles. But what all colleges share (in addition to a Master and a Dean) is a sense of community.
It’s difficult to articulate what that community means without an example - for me, Berkeley Thunder Brunch is one of the best.
Every so often, Berkeley closes off its dining hall to students in other colleges for Sunday brunch. When Berkeleyites arrive at the dining hall’s entrance, they are greeted with an elegant display of mimosas and champagne (non-alcoholic, of course!), which they can take with them inside, where even more delicious treats await.
There is everything that one might want for brunch - banana fritters, an assortment of fresh bagels and toppings, prime rib, and (my favorite) French and Italian pastries.
Right after midterms, it’s a great time for everyone to get together, whether with their suite-mates or other Berkeley students, enjoy the good food and company, and really appreciate all the work the dining hall staff does to make Berkeley special.
While not all residential colleges have their own version of a Thunder Brunch, they all do special things for their students - it’s really one way that they stand out from regular dormitories, and a tradition that you can only find at Yale.
