Bethlehem
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The Bethlehem site is hosted by Moravian College. It was founded in 1742, making it the 6th oldest college in the nation. It includes both CAA (7th-10th grade) and Baby CTY (5th and 6th grades) programs. While both groups eat in the same dining hall, they do so separately and overall use different parts of campus. However, for a few weekend activities, such as Color Wars and a few groups for Mystery Night, each YS (Baby CTY) group is placed with two CAA groups (male and female). There are approximately 80 YS students and 160 CAA students.
Contents
Places
The HUB (Haupert Union Building)
This building is home to the site office, the forbidden carpet, cafeteria, auditorium, and the Pavilion, where CAA dances and weekend activities are held. Off of the HUB is the Portico, where CAA kids chill after meals, and the Patio, where YS kids chill after meals.
Bernhardt and Wilhelm Hall
Nicknamed Bernie and Willie, these are the CAA dorms. The lounge between the two buildings used to be open under RA supervision, but in 2008, it was closed off due to problems regarding money. Many students had complained about loaning money to one another for soda and candy and never getting it back.
CAA males reside in Willie and CAA females reside in Bernie. Many students hear creaking noises, mysterious knocking on doors, and sometimes a slow melody sung at night. CTYers at Bethlehem in 09.1 asked if Moravian was haunted, and it was confirmed that the college has some paranormal activity going on.
Rau Hall and Hassler Hall
Rau and Hassler Hall are the YS dorm buildings. The Rau-Hassler, or RH, lounge is between the two halls, and is where the YS dances are located. The YS males resided in Rau and the YS females resided in Hassler. For the first time in history, students at Bethlehem had air conditioning for the summer.
Academic Buildings
Comenius Hall, a.k.a. the "Harry Potter Building" because of its Romanesque architecture, houses Psychology, Heroes & Villains, and Math Sequence, among other classes.
Zinzendorf houses the CAA Writing the Expository Essay class
Reeves Library is normally closed to students, but it is used by some YS classes. Both YS and CAA used its computers for class.
PPHAC (Priscilla Payne Hurd Academic Complex) is a large, modern building housing one of the computer labs, as well as some of the science-oriented courses.
The Portico And Portico Wall
The Portico is the congregating area for CAA students after meals while waiting for class.
Due to the unfortunate injuries RA Andrew sustained after attempting to jump over the Portico wall in 2004, a rule was put in place that no student may jump over or off of the Portico Wall. This gave way to the phrase "Sit and Spin," which refers to the only rule-abiding way to get over the Portico Wall other than walking around it.
During 08.2, a group of students attempted to change the phrase to "Sit and Swivel," which was the phrase written on the Autograph book for that session. In 09.1, however, it was still known as "Sit & Spin."
Rolling down the hill is also banned. This rule was established in 2004 after a group of students were injured while doing so. There is no real punishment for this, but repeat offenders may have to sit with the RAs during Portico Time.
After being checked out on the last day by their parents, many CTYers jump over the Portico Wall and go directly into a roll down the hill, something that would never happen during session. This is both because of the rules as well as the groups of students that sit on the hill during camp.
The Quad
The Quad is used for many activities by both CAA and YS, as well as for Mandatory Fun. It is the main home to the Icy Hot Massacre (explained in Tradition). The Quad is pretty much Moravian's baby.
In 2004, the field was redone with a new sprinkler and drainage system.
Student Life
Four Square
Four Square is a staple activity at the Bethlehem site, most likely due to the copious presence of suitable quadrangled sidewalks. The activity is popular with CAA and YS alike, though YS CTYers are particularly enthused by it. Indeed, so enthused that one year, the RAs told them they played too much foursquare and refused to give them the ball. This lead to the creation of Nameless, a four-square variation using names instead of a ball.
The highest player, be it King or Ace, determines the set of rules upon ascension, including double-taps, bus-stops, stories, illegal serves, slamming (cherry-bombs), zapping, chicken feet, faults, line rules, connections, truces, etc.
A grid of especially large squares in front of PPHAC has given birth to "Extreme Four Square," which can be played in multiple ways. First, it can be played with teams of 2 or 3 kids per square. It can also be played with one person per square, which is usually accompanied by a rule of double bounces and double touches. Rules are otherwise the same, determined by the Ace. However, Extreme Four Square can be rather harmful to one's health; in 07.1 a YS CTYer playing Extreme Four Square ended up with a sprained wrist.
Weekend Activities
- Color War
- Olympics
- Casino Night
- Talent Show
- Movie Night
- 08.2 and 09.2 had Mystery Night rather than Movie Night. This was because Mystery Night is a major effort on the part of the staff and they are too overwhelmed to plan it for second session.
- Amazing Race (10.1)
- CTY Mission: Impossible (10.2)
- To accommodate CTY Mission Impossible (10.2), Casino Night was changed to Casino Day/CTY Auction
Due to Moravian College's policies, the Bethlehem site does not have a Water Carnival.
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga went to CTY Bethlehem in 1999 and took Writing the Expository Essay (WRTG). To celebrate their famous alumna, 2010 SRAs Gabo & Brittany named the RA/TA Workroom the "RATA Gaga Room." Lady Gaga's signature would occasionally appear on Friendship/Marriage certificates at the CTY Casino Chapel of Love, and pictures of Lady Gaga could be found on flyers and RA handouts. Any Lady Gaga song is considered Lower Canon at this site.
Pole Vaulters
First in 07.2 and again in 08.2, CTY students shared the campus with many sports camps, most notably the pole vaulting camp, Vertical Assault. While the soccer and basketball camps generally ate in small groups, the pole-vaulters all went to breakfast together, and as such, they were a threat to halls going to breakfast at around 8:00 AM. This lead to long lines as well as some of the good cereal being gone before CTY could get there.
In 10.1, a veteran Vertical Assault RA became a CTY RA and diligently attempted to bridge the hostile gap between the two camps. Mysteries like the consumption of the good cereals and the vanishing of cups from in front of the HUB were finally put to rest. Not only were RAs from both camps seen eating together and getting to know each other, campers from both organizations cordially played competitive games of four-square after meals.
On the night of the annual Vertical Assault Resident Counselor Vault session, CTY RAs came to observe and some even participated. In addition, a hall meeting agenda was given the theme of "Hall Meeting Assault" and contained a blurb about the origins of the pole vault. A number of CTY RAs were even seen sporting apparel from Vertical Assault.
However, while great strides were made in helping both camps become more aware of each other, the influx of at least 100 hungry pole vaulters in the cafeteria remains a time of high strain between the two great camps.
Traditions
Bethlehem suffers from a dearth of tradition. Recently, though, a few forevermore RAs have made attempts to introduce some of the more general CTY traditions to the site.
Passionfruit
Bethlehem does not have a Passionfruit, but 07.2 RAs held a nevermore gathering after lights-out on the last Thursday.
During both sessions in 2009, a group of students requested a nevermore party with the help of RA Jonna. Their requests were not honored and no nevermore party was thrown. The nevermore hall watched the sun rise on the morning of the last day during 09.2.
Crazy Hat Day
The Moravian cafeteria Staff started a new tradition, Crazy Hat Day. It occured during both first and second session, and prizes were awarded to the craziest hats. This lead to a daily activity, Crazy Hat Making, the day before the contest. During 2008, 2009, and 2010, the three years the tradition occurred, there was a pretty good turnout.
Icy-Hot Massacre
Another less-known tradition is the Icy Hot Massacre, in which many boys put Icy Hot on the backside of their package either in the dorm rooms or on the quad. The Icy Hot Massacre first occurred in the quad on a weekend in 06.2 and occurred in the dorms because of the close eye RAs kept on quad activities after its discovery. RAs also guarded the Icy Hot in the campus store.
Squirrel Safari
Sean Patrick Kelly, a forevermore, began another possible tradition in 2007 with the daily activity "Squirrel Safari." The activity started with squirrel facts and was followed by walking around campus looking for squirrels. Due to popularity, it was offered again in 2008. Unfortunately, when Sean failed to return in 2009, so did Squirrel Safari.
Site History
The site was known for its strong Ultimate Frisbee program. The faculty team, starring the notorious Sean Patrick Kelly, suffered a 13-10 loss in 2007.
Site Closure
At the end of 2012, an email was sent to CTY staff informing them of the site's closure. A new site would be opened at Haverford, and the YS program would be moved to Easton. The e-mail cited air conditioning, lab equipment and proximity to airports as reasons for the move. Employees would be given preference at either of the two sites and course selection would remain the same. It appeared likely that a good portion of the staff from BTH would end up moving to Haverford.
A section of the email detailing the changes:
I wanted to share the news that we will be moving the CTY Academic Explorations program for Grades 7 and from Moravian College to Haverford College in Haverford, PA. Our Younger Students program for rising 5th and 6th graders formerly at Moravian will move to Lafayette College. Moving locations enables us to have access to science labs, and it will enable us to house all students in air-conditioned facilities. The new location is also more convenient to students arriving by air. At the same time, we recognize and thank Moravian College for being a gracious host to CTY over the past 14 years. If you ever met Chris Hunt, Ann Claussen, and the Summer Conference team, you knew how caring and attentive they were to CTY’s needs. The majority of the positions at Moravian College will transition to either Lafayette College or Haverford College. Being able to offer essentially the same courses was one of the factors we considered in making our decision to move. As in every year, there may be a few changes to course offerings to meet shifts in student demands. Changes in the course offerings will be determined by the time we begin accepting employment applications for summer 2013.
Canon
Neither CAA nor YS dances currently enjoy a canon beyond Smells Like Teen Spirit, Istanbul (Not Constantinople) and American Pie, but the circle-dance steps to American Pie have recently been introduced and maintained by forevermores and returning students.
Upper Canon
- American Pie
- Istanbul (Not Constantinople)
- Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Stairway to Heaven
Lower Canon
- Any Lady Gaga song, due to her significance to the site
Students
External Links
Site Information Packet (2012)
