Washington, DC: Barbara Bradley-Hagerty '81

In several ways, I am not your typical Williams student. I did not play a varsity sport. I was not a J.A. I never lived in Mission. And I don’t like Knock-You-Nakeds. However, in other ways, I am Williams-cliché. And one of those ways, is loving, L-O-V-I-N-G NPR.

As a studio art major, I was standing, walking, and shuffling around a lot. I envied my friends that could nestle up at Tunnel City with some Henry James on a Sunday. Instead, I spent most my time in Spencer Art Studio, warring with the printing press. However, a little technological advancement called podcasts got me through many of those days and nights.

So, as you can imagine, I was more than excited to head to NPR’s headquarters in Washington to meet with Barbara Bradley-Hagerty, their Religion Correspondent. Their offices did not disappoint. As I waited in the lobby, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the slide-show that was projecting on one of the largest walls. It starred a cast of NPR correspondents, reporting from global locales, carrying their cumbersome and awfully furry microphones. I imagine it to be similar to how my brothers felt when they would gaze lovingly at their spread of all-star baseball cards on the bedroom floor. Idols.

When Barb picked me up, we headed straight for the roof terrace, where we chatted above the morning rush. While she is technically the Religion Correspondent, Barb has latitude to write about most anything that interests her and her audience, just needing to sneak faith or morality into the article somewhere. She expressed to me what a privilege it is to have that kind of freedom, and work for an organization as supportive as NPR. She didn’t, however, get there without working in the trenches for several years, studying the art of writing and reporting and working many, many late evenings.

Williams was a constant topic throughout our conversation – the place, her peers, and professors. We talked about competition – a subject that, in my opinion, many Ephs tend to shy away from, as we assume that competition is a sort of dirty product of being sneaky and selfish. I learned from Barb though that the Latin roots of the word mean “seeking together”, and immediately the idea of competition changed for the positive. Williams students benefit from ‘seeking together’. We are encouraged to spend four years growing into our best selves, and even held accountable for doing so. And not only are we encouraged to become ‘better’, but also, as Barb put it, retain a “gentleness of spirit”. Winter Study, Mountain Day, Homecoming, Senior Week – these are all times to simply be happy and enjoy the privilege of the experience.