What are your top two favorite spots in the Ville?
Adrian Ferguson ’26: Of Aspen and the CO-OP.
Ella Curran ’27: The CO-OP or Aria.
Liam Prude ’27: LBV (Lunch Break Vintage) and the CO-OP.
Shreya Patel ’25: Honestly, I don’t go to the Ville that much. Vicky’s and Aria.
Jude Sztraicher ’27: I got a sneaky pick. Don Henderson Field and Church Road Park. They’re very good for lying down and being alone.
Louis Luo ’27: Vicky’s for brunch. And there’s a little sneaky park behind the church, and you can get pretty easily lost at night. And there’s a pretty scary scarecrow on the bench.
Ming Gao ’26: Aria. No other places, I don’t go to the Ville very often.
Maria Fan ’25: The grass patch by the library with a pint of ice-cream from the CO-OP and my friend Tim’s apartment in the Ville.
Aaron Thammavongxay ’25: Saturday morning Occasionally Yours and Central Park Bench.
What are your thoughts on the pronunciation of “Swa/r/thmore” vs “Swa/ah/thmore”?
Adrian Ferguson ’26: I like “Swa/r/thmore” better, but I don’t care about it that much.
Ella Curran ’27: I believe in linguistic diversity.
Liam Prude ’27: I believe in linguistic diversity.
Shreya Patel ’25: “Swa/ah/thmore” when I talk, and “Swa/r/thmore” when I sing. I’m part of that group that sings the Alma Mater at First Collection.
Maria Fan ’25: “Swa/ah/thmore” because it’s easier to say and easier to sing. Joe Gregorio wrote his own Alma Mater of Swarthmore, and he told us to choose whatever pronunciation we wanted to sing. I think we all chose “Swa/ah/thmore” because it’s easier.
Aaron Thammavongxay ’25: I say “Swa/r/thmore”, but I know “Swa/ah/thmore” is technically “more correct”. But emotionally, I’m gonna go “Swa/r/thmore” because that’s how I’ve always read and pronounced it.
Jude Sztraicher ’27: I used to heavily prefer “Swa/ah/thmore,” but now I always say “Swa/r/thmore”. It’s because even the people who live here don’t call it “Swa/ah/thmore” over “Swa/r/thmore”, and if “Swa/r/thmore” is the obvious phonetic pronunciation, then why should I work hard to pronounce it in a way that is not more locally salient.
Louis Luo ’27: I don’t care. I don’t care. I may be slightly inclined toward “Swa/ah/thmore” because I think it sounds slightly more pretentious so that’s the pronunciation I’d go for.
Ming Gao ’26: It depends on how tired I am. I don’t wanna pronounce things sometimes. Maybe I’d say it in Japanese.
What are your most memorable interactions with people who live in the Ville?
Adrian Ferguson ’26: I got stopped by a lady once when I was wearing a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt, and until she realized it was a Guns N’ Roses T-shirt, she seemed to think I was a Satanist.
Liam Prude ’27: This Ville [child] almost kept driving in front of me on a little scooter. He had an electric scooter he was driving around, and I’m just trying to get out. He cuts in front of me, it was like Scooby Doo man, go out one way, come out the other way. How’d he get there? He won’t leave me alone.
Shreya Patel ’25: I got cat-called in the Ville. Like a month and a half ago, by some guy in his mid 40s who was just out in the middle of the day. He was wearing a Celtics jersey for some reason around here. I’m from Boston, Go Celtics!, but don’t tell me to smile.
Maria Fan ’25: I’m always surprised when someone makes contact and says hello when passing me in the Ville. It’s not about me, I’m just surprised that they would do it in the Ville.
Aaron Thammavongxay ’25: I was in Central Park one time on a bench eating my little CO-OP sandwich, my 50 Shades of Chipotle back when it was still good, when someone appeared and went, “Do you want this Uncle Ben’s minute rice?’ I was very confused but she kept insisting that I take the minute rice. She said it would go well with my sandwich. At the end of the day I did not end up taking that minute rice, but it was just inexplicable.
Jude Sztraicher ’27: I was at the Dining Center and a bunch of Ville [children] biked up right outside and started screaming, “Can we have food?” It was chicken and waffles that day so we just grabbed some and threw it at them.
Louis Luo ’27: I knew a server at Village Vine who was telling me about how he used to work in the dining hall. He left after they renovated it. I don’t think he liked it.
Ming Gao ’26: I think when I was a freshman there was one night when I was walking back from badminton and some high school students were shouting at us. They said, “You guys don’t drink but we can.”
What do you think the Ville residents think of Swarthmore College?
Adrian Ferguson ’26: Pretentious. Probably, generally rich. Good for business.
Ella Curran ’27: I think the businesses like us and the people are tired of us, especially the high schoolers. I also think they think we’re losers, especially the high schoolers. The Ville [children] call Swarthmore students many slurs.
Liam Prude ’27: Uhhhhhhhh, moneybags, moneybags.
Shreya Patel ’25: I think that it’s really tough when you have a campus that feels as isolated from its surroundings as Swarthmore is. I think we talk so much about being in the Swarthmore Bubble, and as much as you were asking me all those questions about the restaurants and surroundings earlier, I think a lot of students think of the Ville as a college town. It can feel really ornamental to their Swarthmore experience by having the restaurants and things like Warehouse 3 and general services like laundry and haircuts. There are some apartments where some college students might live, but that just ignores a complete other side of it which is: all of the families who live here, the people who’ve lived here for generations, and buy houses on purpose here, do so for reasons that are outside of the college. I think especially because our campus is so insular, students don’t think about that, and that has the potential to create tensions or incompatibilities, especially when students do decide there is a local issue that they want to get involved in. It can seem like overstepping.
Maria Fan ’25: Obviously they love us ‘cuz I’m here.
Aaron Thammavongxay ’25: I think it depends on which population in the town we’re talking about. I feel like older people will probably get annoyed at us on the weekends when we’re being rowdy. I think the Ville [children] are interesting. They’ll pretend to be Swarthmore students and get into pre-games in PPR, which I don’t even know how they know it’s happening, but it’s always very clear that they don’t go to this school.
Jude Sztraicher ’27: I think if they own their home, I imagine they’re happy the college is there. For the property values.
Louis Luo ’27: I think because the town is so small, it’s really interconnected. It’s not like Wesleyan University where they have arguments with the town residents because the town is relatively larger than the college. I think it’s much more integrated.
Ming Gao ’26: If I’m a resident, I’m probably glad to have an institution near where I live that has many performances every semester.
