Updates

Niebuhr probably wrote Serenity Prayer after all

Six years ago in an article for this magazine (“Who Wrote the Serenity Prayer?” July/August 2008), quotations expert Fred Shapiro showed that the famous Serenity Prayer, attributed to theologian Reinhold Niebuhr ’14BDiv, ’15MA, had appeared in print as early as 1936—several years before 1943, when his family claimed he had written it. But in an April Chronicle of Higher Education article, Shapiro wrote of new evidence linking the prayer to Niebuhr as early as 1932. Shapiro writes that he now has “a high degree of confidence” that Niebuhr originated the prayer.

New swimming pool is on the agenda

The university is considering a proposal to build a new swimming pool to replace the obsolete Exhibition Pool at Payne Whitney Gymnasium (“Once-Celebrated Pool Is Past Its Prime,” November/December 2012). At 25 yards, the pool is too small to host championship meets. Although plans are not yet official, and the money is yet to be raised, the proposal is to build a new 50-meter pool at Payne Whitney, perhaps incorporating the current pool space and an addition in the parking lot behind the gym. Preliminary estimates suggest the project would cost around $50 million.