Paradise regained—on the Orange Carpet

Picture angels talking to you in a garden paradise, explaining the origin of the world and your place in it. This isn’t heaven; it’s Cornell College—and the Orange Carpet to be more specific. And those angels—and devils—are students, faculty, and staff, gathered to read John Milton’s “Paradise Lost” aloud in one marathon session.

They read for hours, starting at 10 a.m. and going on into the evening. They read in the voice of God (provided at one point by physics Professor Lyle Lichty), Adam, Eve, Satan, and the whole heavenly—and hellish—host. This being a 21st century class, they even had a hashtag: #sexyserpent2013.