In a few months, you and 400 other students will descend upon Bronxville, New York, to begin your new life as a student at Sarah Lawrence College. But right now, you’re scattered all over the world. In an effort to bring you together, we present—the New Gryphon Reading.

The New Gryphon Reading is a common text that all first-year and transfer students receive during the summer. During the first full day of Orientation you will have a variety of opportunities to process the book: by interacting with the author, discussing the book in small groups over dinner and through the many conversations you will be having with your fellow students, faculty and staff of the College.

This year, we are proud to present to you The Book of Sarahs, written by Catherine E. McKinley, a First-Year studies teacher this year and an alumna of the Class of 1989. Centered on her longing for the people she imagined lost to her as a result of her transracial adoption in the 1960s, this passionate memoir is just as insightful as it is incite-ful.

Catherine’s search for identity is a theme that underscores much of what you will hear about during Orientation, not only in the programs presented, but in both the casual conversations you will have with new friends as well as with that voice that narrates your own process of self-discovery.

This is not to say that you will identify or even agree with the words you will find in this text. We want you to wrestle with the book, to wrap your hands and head around the emotions and journeys put forth and then put it all in some greater context. You will be repeating this process constantly over the next four years, as these are some of the values and priorities that Sarah Lawrence holds dear.

Of course, in order to do all this, you have to read the book. A copy of The Book of Sarahs will be mailed to you in the third week of July. We are most excited to engage you about this book and your own journey in just a few short months.