Bryn Mawr is always popping up in pop culture

A collection of short stories set in and around the College.  The book features a variety of characters, including students, faculty, and local residents, and explores themes such as friendship, love, and the challenges of academic life.   

Verona "Rone" Babbit is a recent graduate of Bryn Mawr and professes liberal opinions.  While she considers herself to be a sensitive, serious, and enlightened member of a new, radical generation, her beliefs and character are still heavily influenced by the materialistic, ignorant values of the middle class that Lewis seeks to exploit.   

The 1931 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel, this text prominently features the College, along with the characters of college presidents M. Carey Thomas and Marion Park.  The novel centers on the social manners of upper-middle-class society, chronicling the life of fictional character Jane Ward Carver from her teens to age 54.   

Novel about the rapid, self-destructive downfall of Julian English, a wealthy car dealer in the fictional Pennsylvania town of Gibbsville, over three days around Christmas in 1930. Julian's wife is mentioned to be a Bryn Mawr alumna.  

The story follows young Ken McLaughlin as he tries to train a powerful, untamable horse to become a racehorse to save his family's ranch from bankruptcy. The mother in the book is mentioned to be a Bryn Mawr alumna.  

A courtroom rivalry finds its way into the household when a prosecuting lawyer Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy) faces off against his wife, Amanda (Katherine Hepburn), who happens to be a defense attorney. Working on opposite sides of a lawsuit where a woman (Judy Holliday) has shot her cheating husband (Tom Ewell), Adam and Amanda are both determined to win the case, and their home becomes the setting for comical showdown, with neither spouse willing to relent.  Directed by George Cukor, written by Ruth Gordon and Garson Kanin. 

Quote: Adam Bonner (Spencer Tracy) to Amanda Bonner (Katharine Hepburn, Class of 1928): “Oh, now you’re giving me the Bryn Mawr accent.” 

The film follows a senator who returns to her alma mater Good Hope College to deliver a speech. Bryn Mawr is specifically mentioned at the beginning when discussing schools that she has turned down. Directed by Vincent Sherman, written by Fay Kanin 

Quote: Joan Crawford's character says, "I turned down Vassar, Bryn Mawr, and Radcliffe…But when Good Hope called, I couldn't resist."  

Essay about the author's marriage to Katherine Sergeant Angell White, former fiction editor of The New Yorker.  

An American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder, starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. The plot follows two musicians who witness a mob hit and disguise themselves as women to escape Chicago by joining an all-female band. While on tour, they must keep their identities secret from the gangsters and navigate romantic entanglements, including Curtis’ character posing as a millionaire to woo the band’s singer, Sugar Kane Kowalcyk (Monroe).  

Quote: Curtis: "You're a society girl?" / Kowalczyk: "Oh, yes, y'know, Bryn Mawr, Vassar."  

The long-running quiz competition created by Merv Griffin reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Throughout the show’s run, “What is Bryn Mawr College” has been the answer to many clues.   

A coming-of-age novel following Macon "Milkman" Dead III, a Black man in Michigan navigating identity, family dysfunction, and social oppression.  The mentioned quote refers to First Corinthian Dead, Milkman's younger sister, who attended Bryn Mawr and studied in France.  

Quote: "Bryn Mawr had done what a four-year dose of liberal education was designed to do: unfit her for eighty percent of the useful work of the world."  

A fictional character in the G.I. Joe toy line, comic books, and animated series, Lady Jane AKA Alison R. Hart-Burnett is Airborne and Ranger qualified, and an expert with the M-16, M-1911A1 auto pistol and reflex crossbow.  She is also an accomplished actress and fluent in several languages. She is a Bryn Mawr graduate and did graduate work at Trinity College in Dublin before graduating from intelligence school at Fort Holabird.   

Created by Matt Groening, this animated comedy focuses on the eponymous family in the town of Springfield in an unnamed U.S. state.  

Edna Krapappel, one of Bart’s teachers, was retired from The Simpsons in 2013 following the death of her voice actress, Marcia Wallace, with the character’s final original speaking role in the Season 25 episode, “The Man Who Grew Too Much,” and a special tribute in the subsequent episode, “Four Regrettings and a Funeral.” Edna can be read a wry, satirical take on the Bryn Mawr woman, having received her master’s from the graduate school before teaching.    

Cosmetics saleswoman Fran Fine unexpectedly gets a job as the nanny for the three children of Broadway producer and widower Maxwell Sheffield in this sitcom created by Fran Drescher and Peter Marc Jacobson. In the series, C.C. Babcock, the primary antagonist, mentions that she attended Bryn Mawr.  

A 1950s-set coming-of-age drama following two working-class brothers who become entangled with the three wealthy, privileged daughters of Llyod Abbott. The youngest daughter Pamela attends Bryn Mawr College.  

Quote: [Helen]: "Where's Pam going to school?" [Llyod]: "Bryn Mawr. I should be able to remember that. It costs enough."  

The song was inspired by a phrase heard at Bryn Mawr College. Frontman John Wozniak, son of Professor Emeritus of Psychology Robert Wozniak, was visiting his girlfriend in her dorm room when a roommate walked in and remarked, "Oh, it smells like sex and candy in here."  

Writen and directed by Nancy Meyers. When aging womanizer Harry Sanborn (Jack Nicholson) and his young girlfriend, marin (Amanda Peet), arrive at her family’s beach house in the Hamptons, they find that her mother, dramatist Errica Barry (Diane Keaton), also plans to stay for the weekend. In the film, Erica is described as a “Bryn Mawr girl” by her ex-husband, and it is noted that another character’s mother attended the College.  

The show created by Greg Daniels depicts the everyday work lives of office employees at the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. An ex-girlfriend of Andy, one of the show’s main characters, Jessica (Eleanor Seigler) is mentioned to be an assistant cross country coach at Bryn Mawr.  

An American satirical surrealist sitcom that follows Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), leading as the head writer for the SNL-esque show.  Originally from White Haven, Pennsylvania, she attended Bryn Mawr to study Theater Technology before transferring to the University of Maryland on a partial competitive jazz dance scholarship.   

The drama follows the scandalous lives of privileged Manhattan prep school teenagers on the Upper East Side, whose secrets are exposed by an anonymous blogger. Created by Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, based on the book series by Cecily von Ziegesar. 

Quote: Speaking to the main protagonists Blair and Serena, a woman says, "My husband's off to his business dinner and before I meet my friends from Bryn Mawr, I have to order room service for my daughter."  

An American period drama television series that follows top ad men in 1960s New York, created by Matthew Weiner. The series’ main character Don Draper’s wife Betty is a Bryn Mawr alumna. A native of the Main Line and 1952 Bryn Mawr graduate, earning a degree in anthropology, Betty embodied the stereotype of a smiling housewife. The prestige of her upbringing and education contrast sharply with her later life as a housewife, deepening the sense of unrealized intellectual ambition that defines much of her character arc. The series also features real-life alumna and actress Maggie Siff ’96.

This romantic drama film directed by Adam Salky and written by David Bring follows three high schoolers exploring their identity at a suburban prep school.  In the film, one of the main characters Alexa Walker (Emmy Rossum) attends the fictional Bryn Mawr Academy that used Bryn Mawr College and Wynnewood’s Friends’ Central School for interior and exterior shots.

An English college professor (Luke Wilson) at the fictional Grey College, the real-life Bryn Mawr College, takes action when a new colleague (Gretchen Mol) threatens his chance for tenure. Written and directed by Mike Million. Many of the scenes were shot on campus, throughout the Garrett Hill neighborhood in Radnor, Delaware County, and at Lower Merion High School and Rosemont College.   

In a skit, actress Kristen Wiig plays Katharine Hepburn (Class of 1928) fighting with a raccoon.   

Quote: While tussling with the raccoon, Wiig says, “I learned to box at Bryn Mawr. I did!” 

A Bollywood movie directed by Kabir Khan that was partially filmed on Bryn Mawr's campus. The film centers on three college students in New York who find their lives and friendships forever changed after the 9/11 attacks.  

The novel centers the story of Portia Nathan, a Princeton admissions officer whose carefully managed life unravels when a past decision resurfaces, forcing her to confront secrets as she evaluates thousands of student applications, including that of a promising student from an experimental school. In the book, a student makes an appointment to visit Bryn Mawr, but upon arrival, refuses to leave the car.  

The film follows the life of Leonie Gilmour (Emily Mortimer), a Bryn Mawr alumna from the class of 1892. Early in the film, she meets Umeko Tsuda, a real-life Japanese educator and fellow alumna of the class of 1890. Throughout the film, Leonie has a strong and independent life as the mother of Japanese American artist Isamu Noguchi. Directed by Hisako Matsui. 

Set in 1964 Manhattan, recent Bryn Mawr graduate Vivian Schuyler defies her wealthy Fifth Avenue family to work at a cutthroat magazine only to uncover a mystery dating back to WWI. 

The music video for the song "Reflections" is filmed across Bryn Mawr's campus, with focal points at Taylor Hall, Senior Row, Rhoads Dining Hall, and the tunnels beneath Great Hall.  

In her memoir, Schumer mentions that Bryn Mawr was where had her first real comedy show on a college circuit in 2016.  

A comedy-drama series by Amy Sherman-Palladino about a 1950s New York City housewife who discovers a talent for stand-up comedy after her husband leaves her. The show follows her journey as she navigates the male-dominated comedy scene.  The series is known for its witty dialogue, vibrant costumes, and exploration of themes like female ambition, identity, and the changing social landscape of the era.  The series main protagonist, Midge Maisel, is a Bryn Mawr alumna.  

Quote: Midge says, “…at 6, I decided Russian Literature would be my major, at 12 I found my signature haircut, at 13, I announced I was going to Bryn Mawr College,” to which her mother whispers to her father, “in Katharine Hepburn’s old room.”  

This novella is an epilogue sequel to the popular young adult novels “Simon vs. the Homo sapiens Agenda” and “Leah on the Offbeat” by Becky Albertalli, and it follows the main characters as they head to college. The main character Simon goes to Haverford College in the book and makes many Bi-Co references, including mentioning attending “the big Halloween party at Bryn Mawr,” referring to the unofficial College tradition of Radnorween. 

A sapphic gothic horror novel featuring dual timelines. In 1902, students at the Brookhants School for Girls form a secret society and die under mysterious circumstances. Over a century later, a film crew shooting a horror movie at the same location faces similar inexplicable and dangerous events. Bryn Mawr is briefly mentioned in the text as one of the Seven Sisters colleges.  

A memoir by Zauner, singer and guitarist of the band Japanese Breakfast, it is an expansion of the eponymous 2018 essay published in The New Yorker. Centering on food as a key aspect of cultural identity, Zauner explores grief and loss, following the passing of her mother, and the search for Korean-American cultural identity.     

The novel follows two Black women, Liselle and Selena, over the course of a single day as they reflect on their past and present lives, particularly their shared history in college at Bryn Mawr.  

This musical by Shaina Taub centers on the American women's suffrage movement and highlights key figures such as Alice Paul and Ida B. Wells. The show mentions Bryn Mawr in relation to President Woodrow Wilson.   

This music video by Japanese Breakfast's Michelle Zauner ’11 was filmed on campus and features Old Library, the Quita Woodward Room, and the Cloisters. 

The novel follows retired, 73-year-old Sybil Van Antwerp as she navigates life, grief, and a mysterious past through her extensive letters and emails. It is mentioned that Sybil attended Bryn Mawr.