Villanova Wildcats, 2016 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Champions. April 4. Houston, Texas. Courtesy of University Archives.

This week we’re throwing it back to the 2016 National Championship team! With news of Donte DiVincenzo joining Josh Hart and Jalen Brunson on the New York Knicks, Nova Nation is excited to see the former teammates on the court this fall.

Image courtesy of the New York Knicks Twitter.

Image courtesy of the New York Knicks Twitter.

• Ganguli, T. (2023, April 14). ‘Nova to the Knicks: Two College Buddies Pursue Another Title. New York Times, B7(L). https://link-gale-com.ezp1.villanova.edu/apps/doc/A745502243/OVIC?u=vill_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=81e9d4a3
• Jensen, M. (2023, April 29). Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, former Villanova NCAA stars, are now Knicks playoff stars. (2023, April 29). Philadelphia Inquirer [Philadelphia, PA], NA. https://link-gale-com.ezp1.villanova.edu/apps/doc/A747421942/OVIC?u=vill_main&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=37a3e13b
• Mahoney, B. (2023, July 2). Donte DiVincenzo joining Knicks, former Villanova teammates, on 4-year deal, AP source says. AP English Worldstream – English. https://library.villanova.edu/Find/EdsRecord/nsm,AP8c01615b1128fa8614058ef355e22514#html

Check out the digital exhibit “Wildcats Past & Present: Moments from the History of Sports at Villanova,” for additional championship memorabilia and unique items representative of the varied sports played at Villanova College, and later Villanova University.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

Photograph, Summer School, 1950s. Villanova University Archives, Villanova University.

Summer sessions are in full swing on campus! This week’s Throwback Thursday (#TBT) features a photograph from summer school at Villanova College in the 1950s. Notice the backdrop? That was the Reference/Reading Room (Villanova College Library), known today as the Dugan Polk Family Reading Room (Falvey Library). Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. 

Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

We’re officially in the “dog days” of summer!

Spanning July 3 to Aug. 11, the “dog days” of summer are usually the hottest days of the year. According to Merriam-Webster, the term is in reference to a star, not our furry friends…“In the ancient Greek constellation system, this star (called Seirios in Greek) was considered the hound of the hunter Orion and was given the epithet Kyon, meaning ‘dog.’ The Greek writer Plutarch referred to the hot days of summer as hēmerai kynades (literally, ‘dog days’), and a Latin translation of this expression as dies caniculares is the source of our English phrase.”

Stay cool, ’Cats!

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Her favorite “dog day” is Aug. 1 (her birthday). 

Photograph, Baseball (George Emma), March 28, 1957. Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

With All-Star Week quickly approaching, the first half of the Major League Baseball season is almost finished. This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) features a photo from the 1957 Villanova University varsity baseball season. Did you know that Villanova first began playing varsity baseball in 1866? The program is one of the oldest collegiate programs in the country! “In a history that spans more than 150 years, Villanova has played more than 3,500 games and has had more than 1,500 student-athletes wear the uniform.”

Check out additional baseball photos in the Villanova University Digital Library. Looking for more information on the history of Villanova athletics? The exhibit, “Wildcats Past & Present: Moments from the History of Sports at Villanova,” features assorted and unique items representative of the varied sports played at Villanova. Prefer a podcast? Both episodes of the History of Athletics at Villanova can be played here.

For more baseball, explore the resources below! Catch a game this weekend: The Philadelphia Phillies begin a home series with the Washington Nationals tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. Congratulations to LSU men’s baseball! The team defeated Florida 18-4 in a winner-take-all Game 3 of the Men’s College World Series finals Monday, June 26, in Omaha, NE.

• Baseball: A History of America’s Game (Rader, 2018)
• Baseball (Burns, 2010) *Academic Video Online
• Baseball (Seymour, 1960)
• Baseball: The National Pastime in the National Archives
• Baseball: An Illustrated History (Ward, 1994)
• Baseball in America and America in Baseball (Kyle, 2008) *eBook
• Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box (Bronson & Irwin, 2004)
• ESPN Feature: E60 “Risking It All” [Matthew Szczur] *Video

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Her favorite baseball team is the Cleveland Guardians. 

For this Throwback Thursday, we rewind to 1964 when legendary folk band Peter, Paul, and Mary visited Villanova to play for a crowd of 4,500. Alluded to in the Belle Air yearbook simply as “The Folk Singing Trio,” Peter Yarrow, Paul Stookey, and Mary Travers, sang their newly recorded hits like “If I Had a Hammer” and “Puff, the Magic Dragon.”

Peter, Paul, and Mary were a combination of entertainment and activism and sang “If I Had a Hammer” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” at the Million Man March on Washington shortly before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke, according to Michael Scott Cain’s Folk Music and the New Left in the Sixties, part of Falvey’s collection.

Check out this memory (page 64) and many others, courtesy of our Digital Library.

We’re hopping into our trusty time machine and heading back to Villanova, circa 1975.

The first VCRs* rolled off the assembly lines in Japan, and while Saturday Night Live would premiere that fall, every Thursday night Villanova students flocked to the Library to study and work on papers. And, quite possibly, work on growing a mustache that even Tom Selleck would admire.

“How nice, Friday and Saturday are still to come,” wryly notes the Belle Air copy.

Special thanks to Michael Foight, Director, Distinctive Collections and Digital Engagement, who discovered this treasure in Falvey’s yearbook collection.

* Note: VCRs are video cassette recording machines. For more on VCRs, check out Fast Forward: Hollywood, the Japanese, and the Onslaught of the VCR in Falvey’s main collection.

Shawn Proctor, MFA, is Communication and Marketing Program Manager at Falvey Library.

By Kallie Stahl

Reunion 2023 begins tomorrow! This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) features the official reservation form from the 1956 Alumni Reunion. View the full schedule of events for Reunion 2023 here. Graduates from class years ending in 3 or 8 will celebrate milestone reunions with exclusive activities, though all alumni are welcome to attend. Have a fun weekend, Wildcats!

Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

Image courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

Looking for some vacation suggestions for the summer? Check out this book featuring outings in California. Published in 1921 by Peck-Judah Co. Travel Bureaus, you can browse the full publication here.

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.

Darth Vader stopped by Falvey Library’s Stress-Busting Open House on Dec. 10, 2015.

Happy Star Wars Day, Wildcats. May the 4th be with you!

In honor of today’s holiday, check out a few resources available at Falvey Library:

• Star Wars: Imperial Handbook (eBook)
• Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Traveler’s Guide to Batuu (eBook)
• Star Wars: Book of Sith: Secrets From the Dark Side (eBook)
• Star Wars: Smuggler’s Guide (eBook)
• Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (DVD)
• 100 Things Star Wars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (eBook)
• Inside the Star Wars Empire: A Memoir (eBook)
• Entertainment Weekly Star Wars: The Ultimate Guide to the Complete Saga (eBook)

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library. Her favorite Star Wars droid is C-3PO “Goodness gracious me!” (and more recently) K-2SO. 

Photo courtesy of the Villanova University Digital Library.

The Penn Relays begin today! This week’s Throwback Thursday (TBT) is taken from the 1960 Belle Air.

“Ed Collymore, anchorman, comes from behind to take Mile Relay after getting baton from teammate Charley Stead. Time was 3:11:8 with teammates (Joe) Manion and (Jim) Blackburn’s efforts” (p. 199).

Good luck to all the athletes competing this week. Go Nova!

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication & Marketing Specialist at Falvey Library.