More to explore

A big round of applause and Bulldog cheer for all the individuals who participated in YourYale’s first annual scavenger hunt, exploring the campus to find and photograph the 12 clues. Congratulations to our winners, who were randomly chosen from those who submitted at least seven correct answers.

The hunt may be over, but the adventure continues. Find the answers for every clue below.

1. Kline Tower

At 16 stories, Kline Tower is the tallest building on campus. The red brick exterior is punctuated by brownstone bands that wrap around the building below each floor’s windows, giving Kline its distinctive, stacked silhouette.

It was completely renovated and reopened in 2023. The former mechanical roof was converted into two new floors that include a lounge and event space with stunning panoramic views of New Haven. A revitalized underground connector links it to nearby Science Hill buildings. Kline is now home to the departments of Astronomy, Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science, the Yale Institute for Foundations of Data Science, the Marx Science and Social Science Library, and Steep Café. In addition, the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning has a satellite location on site.

Location: 219 Prospect Street
Date: 1966, renovated in 2023
Architect: Philip Johnson

2. Lions in front of the Central Power Plant

This pair of large, fierce looking lions has guarded the Central Power Plant since the 1930s. They once sat atop Lampson Lyceum and were salvaged when it was demolished to make room for Berkeley College. Walking down Tower Parkway, they are easy to spot, with their scowling faces, curly manes, and sharp, pointy claws. Made of brownstone, they weigh one and a half tons each and stand over six feet tall.

Location: Tower Parkway
Date: 1903
Artist: Cady, Berg & See (designed Lampson Hall)

3. Alma Mater

Alma Mater reigns serenely above Sterling Memorial Library’s nave, watching all who enter. Standing beneath the Tree of Knowledge, she holds the greenish-grey sphere of learning in one hand and a book bearing Yale’s motto Lux et Veritas in the other. Surrounding her in homage are the allegorical figures of Light, Truth, Science, Labor, Music, the Arts, and Literature. Her statuesque figure is draped in a white robe topped by a Yale blue cloak, and her almond-shaped eyes seem to follow you, Mona Lisa-style, as you pass by. Take a moment to study the mural’s details: the tree’s golden leaves, her muscular legs visible beneath the flowing robe, and the placid facial expressions of the other figures.

Location: Sterling Memorial Library
Date: 1932 
Artist: Eugene F. Savage, BFA 1924 (1883-1978)

4. Gutenberg Bible

The Gutenberg Bible has been on display in a large bronze-and-glass case at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library since 1963. Visitors can easily view it and be awed by its still vibrant typeface and colorful illustrations. The Bible sits in a black plexiglass cradle that better supports the book’s structure and gives the thick volume the appearance of floating inside the humidity-monitored case. Conservators gently turn the Bible’s pages every few months, selecting pages with elaborate ornamentation allowing visitors, over time, to see different pages.

Location: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Date: 1455

5. Stone Footbridge

Beginning at the stone footbridge — which sits in a wooded, tranquil spot and crosses over the Oyster River — walkers can embark on a 1.5-mile stroll on the Yale West Campus Nature Trail. The bridge bears a plaque commemorating Bayer Healthcare’s more than four decades at that location. Yale purchased the 136-acre Bayer Pharmaceutical research campus in 2007; Bayer had installed the bridge in the mid-1990s. The woodland trail runs through the middle of the property, ending at the West Campus Barn.

If inspired, one could run — out and back — a lunchtime 5K, serenaded by some of the 137 species of birds that have been spotted throughout campus, such as the Song Sparrow, American Goldfinch, Herring Gull, and Northern Flicker.

Location: Yale West Campus
Date: mid-1990s

6. Sculpture: “Trees”

Walking down Howard Avenue, the six, 25-foot-tall steel trees, with clusters of green aluminum circular leaves, are hard to miss. During the winter season, they bring a splash of color to the area when other hibernating trees and shrubs stand leafless. Robert Venturi, whose firm designed the Anlyan Center, wanted these massive objects to bring a touch of whimsy to the building’s brick and limestone exterior.

Location: Anlyan Center along Howard Avenue
Date: 2000-03 
Artist: Robert Venturi (1925-2018) for Venturi, Brown & Associates, Inc.

7. Theodore Dwight Woolsey statue

Legend has it that since the 1980s, anxious students during exam week and hopeful applicants alike have rubbed the protruding, boot-clad foot of the statue of Theodore Dwight Woolsey for good luck. His smooth, shiny, golden shoe tip is now a striking contrast to the dark brown patina of the large bronze sculpture.

Woolsey (1801–1889; B.A. 1820, M.A. 1823) served as president of Yale from 1846 to 1871, having spent his academic career as a professor of Greek. Seated and dressed in flowing academic robes, his gaze seems both thoughtful and penetrating, almost as if he has just looked up from the book resting in his lap. The Greek inscription on the back of the chair reads “the most excellent; the most wise; the most just.” The statue rests imposingly atop a tiered pedestal in the center of Old Campus, keeping watch over generations of students from their first days through the triumphant moment of Commencement.

Location: Old Campus
Date: 1896 
Artist: John Ferguson Weir (1841-1926; M.A.H. 1871)

8. Handsome Dan Statue

The quarter-ton bronze statue outside the front gates of Yale Bowl was crafted in the likeness of the original Handsome Dan, the first live collegiate mascot owned by Yale student Andrew B. Graves, Class of 1892.

When Dan passed in 1898, his remains were preserved and displayed in a glass case that stood for many years in Payne Whitney Gymnasium’s Yale Trophy Room. The taxidermied Dan served as a model for the statue. Rumor has it that when the freshly cast Dan was installed in Jensen Plaza, the statue was bolted securely to its granite pedestal so no prank-loving Harvard fan could try to make off with it. Go Bulldogs!

Postscript: Maybe, like the Theodore Dwight Woolsey statue, we should all start rubbing Dan’s paws for good luck on game day.

Location: Yale Bowl
Date: 2011
Artist: Centerbrook Architects and Planners

9. Alexander Walk

Alexander Walk, in the heart of central campus, runs from the Humanities Quadrangle on York Street to College Street. This pedestrian pathway, lined with ample trees and shrubbery, underwent a major transformation from an asphalt street to a walkable, bike-friendly streetscape. It was completed in 2021 and named in honor of Bruce Alexander, former vice president of New Haven and State Affairs and Campus Development. This bucolic walkway has been closed to automobile access since 1990.

Location: Wall Street and College Street

10. Stone carving: Squirrels and Woman

Throughout campus, one needs only look up to see a variety of interesting, scary, and fun stone carvings adorning many of Yale’s buildings. With so many to choose from, scavenger hunt participants had plenty of options.

Originally built to house the Yale Forest School — now the Yale School of the Environment — Sage Hall has many natural-world building decorations. Over the Prospect Street doorway are two squirrels holding a Yale “Y” made up of the winged seeds of maple trees. Beneath them, appropriately, are carved oak leaves and acorns.

Located at the front of the Sterling Law Building on Wall Street are 10 stone heads. Among these are two identified only as “Woman.” Unlike the others labeled, “Thief,” “Policeman,” or “Judge,” “Woman” stands out for its simpler design, including shoulder-length straight hair and small crown of flowers.

Locations: Sterling Law Building and Sage Hall
Dates: 1931 and 1923

11. Outdoor sculpture: “An American Dream”

“An American Dream,” a life-size, three-dimensional bronze piece, which stands near the Jane Ellen Hope Building, depicts two teenagers engaged in an active game of basketball. The girl, airborne, is about to shoot the ball, as the boy, slightly crouched, looks up pensively. Both teen’s facial expressions, clothing, and hair are rendered with such detail that passersby are drawn into the static action. Dr. Wayne O. Southwick, who taught at the Yale School of Medicine and served as chief of orthopedic surgery for over three decades, created this art.

Location: Cedar Street
Date: 1993 
Artist: Dr. Wayne O. Southwick (1923-2016)

12. Piece of art: “Number 13A: Arabesque”

Gazing upon “13A: Arabesque,” two things come to mind: singer and songwriter Taylor Swift might like this painting — rumor has it she has an affinity for the number 13 — and you can almost feel the raw energy Pollock channeled as he dripped, hurled, and flung paint onto this wide canvas. Against the muddy, wine-colored background, white, black, and gray intertwining lines look like bursts of new and fading electricity captured on canvas. Imagine Pollock standing above the canvas — covered in wet and dry paint — moving this way and that to create those curling effects.

Pollock abandoned the easel, taking inspiration from Navajo sand painting. Created in the late 1940s, his novel manner of applying pigment became known as “action painting.” The Gallery will be lending “Number 13A: Arabesque” to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for an upcoming exhibition. The two examples of “action paintings” on view in its place are Pollock’s “Number 4”, and Franz Kline’s “Ravenna”. Stop by the Gallery’s front desk for information on these modern masterpieces.

Location: Yale University Art Gallery, third floor
Date: 1948 
Artist: Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)

Thank you to everyone who submitted photos!