Letters

It has come to my attention that there is an effort afoot to move our beloved college windmill off our campus, where it has resided for many decades [“New Push To Move Southampton’s Oldest Windmill From College Campus Back to Village,” 27east.com, June 11].

There are approximately 10,000 Southampton College alumni. We have contributed to the area since 1963. The alums have become teachers, doctors, politicians, lawyers, scientists, athletes, nurses, bankers and business owners, just to name a few occupations.

Many chose to stay in the Southampton area after graduation, to work and raise their families. Our first graduates are now turning 80 years old and still get together on a regular basis. We have a love for our alma mater, its campus, its windmill and its symbol. There is a deep 66-year-old bond.

The Southampton College landmark windmill greets travelers as they enter Southampton and waves farewell as they leave the area. Every December, for decades, there is an annual Lighting of the Windmill. Alums, current students, staff, community and their families gather and celebrate the windmill, each other, the college’s educational programs, and the holidays with the spirit of the season and their friendships.

The over-300-year-old Southampton College windmill was granted landmark status, as it was once the residence, in 1957, of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams, and as such was dedicated as a Literary National Library Landmark. A plaque commemorating this status is on the windmill as you enter.

Southampton College was originally owned by Long Island University and sold to Stony Brook University, along with its 80 or so acres, buildings and award-winning Marine Science Center, equipment and marine vehicles. The college is alive and well and is under new administration. Between the ownership change and the pandemic, its maintenance has not been what it should have been throughout the campus, but we remain optimistic that a turn-around is in the offing.

Addressing the desire of a handful of folks to move the Southampton College windmill to the village would involve permits, tearing it down, dismantling it, moving it (traffic control), preparing the land, and rebuilding it.

Instead, how about this idea: I propose that a more time-saving and money-saving idea would be to build a new windmill on Windmill Lane that meets current building codes. That way, the Southampton College windmill could remain where it is, on the hillside of Shinnecock Hills, overlooking Shinnecock Bay, the Atlantic Ocean and Peconic Bay, greeting sailors and scholars alike. It could continue to host dean’s list teas, reunions, fundraisers, community events, literary festivals and holiday celebrations for its students, staff, community and alumni.

As Tennessee Williams wrote: “If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.”

Joan Tutt

Southampton

Tutt is a Southampton resident since 1964 and was the president of Southampton College’s Class of 1968, the second graduating class — Ed.