Westminster celebrates eclipse with viewing party
Apr. 8—For a few moments on Monday, Westminster College went dark.
Then lights illuminated the campus Quad while Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" played in the background. Despite cloudy conditions hampering visibility at the point of totality, students and staff at the college celebrated the once-in-a-lifetime experience with a viewing party.
"It's really cool. It's something we won't get to see for a long time," said Westminster student Charlie Barefield. "No other planet in our solar system has eclipses like our one."
The eclipse-related events were located at the Quad on campus and were coordinated by the Office of Professional Development and Community Engagement with support from coordinating programs and the Beyond the Quad Art Series.
Activities included viewing the eclipse through telescopes, making eclipse-themed chalk art and cookies, reading eclipse-themed stories and a live broadcast from Titan Radio.
There was a video presentation on how the Navajo tribe used special weaved baskets to keep track of the different seasons, months and eclipses.
"It expands our cultural knowledge," said Westminster Director of DEI Education & Bias Prevention Dr. Sherese Newell. "It's a sacred time (for them). We get to share that."
Dr. Josh Levy discussed three past eclipse expeditions — in 1860 from northern Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1889 in coastal Angola and 1926 in Sumatra, Indonesia.
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Levy is a curator of the science and technology manuscript collections at the Library of Congress.
Barefield, who is an English major, joined the planetarium due to a love of astronomy.
Barefield wants to study mythology in graduate school to learn how different cultures and myths see and interpret space.
Clifford Yonata has been into astronomy since he was in fourth grade.
He brought four of his personal telescopes in Monday for the public to use.
"My excitement is being able to share this hobby and teach everybody I can," Yonata said.
Yonata, a technical support engineer for Westminster, is a member of the Beaver County Amateur Astronomers.
He said the group is looking for new members and more information is available on its Facebook page.
