By Ethan Shea

“Excerpt from Belle Air 1969”

As Villanova Theatre’s 2021 – 2022 Season begins this week with performances of James Ijames’ White, this excerpt from the 1969 edition of Belle Air reminds us of another time Villanova’s theatre program changed venues. The snippet describes the theatre’s “new location in Vasey Hall” with an enthusiasm similar to current attitudes toward the upcoming inaugural performance in the John and Joan Mullen Center for the Performing Arts.

This new beginning gives us an opportunity to reflect on the changes Villanova has underwent since 1969. Upcoming performances of White will challenge audiences to reckon with “racism, misogyny and cultural appropriation”, contrasting the lack of diversity in the image above and reminding us of the importance of continuously striving to embody an accessible culture of inclusion.

Ethan Shea is a first-year English Graduate Student at Villanova University and Graduate Assistant at Falvey Memorial Library.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

With this week’s #TBT picture we are taking it all the way back to the ’60s, when two students took advantage of the quiet atmosphere on Falvey Library’s third floor. Many students have studied in that same spot in the stacks over the years, especially when they have a paper due or finals looming!

This picture was included in the program for Falvey Memorial Library’s dedication ceremony, which took place on Saturday, Nov. 16, 1968. You can view the program in Falvey’s very own Digital Library.

Photo courtesy of University Archives.

THROWBACK THURSDAY

The 1962 Villanova University yearbook staff poses for a group photo. View more images from the 1960s in Distinctive Collections’ new digital exhibit, Nova Stories: Campus Life from the 1960s. Curated by Beaudry Allen, the exhibit draws on University Archives to reveal the photographs, newspaper-clippings, audio-recordings, and programs that illustrate what student life was like in the 1960s and highlights some of the traditions and changes happening on campus.