I'll try not to bore you with a "how I spent my summer vacation" post, but I was on campus Friday for the first time in four years. These are a few quick thoughts.
-- Stokes Hall is beautiful. However, I think the loss of green space is noticeable. The whole area now feels a little crowded. I hope the renovations outside of Fulton and Lyons provides the connection to the rest of campus green area. (My wife thought it looked great.)
-- My memories of BC's campus date back 20+ years. My wife's go back even further. Neither of us could remember a time when BC wasn't undergoing a major construction project. Ever to Excel and all that, but it would be nice to have a construction free campus for a year or two.
-- My memories of BC's campus date back 20+ years. My wife's go back even further. Neither of us could remember a time when BC wasn't undergoing a major construction project. Ever to Excel and all that, but it would be nice to have a construction free campus for a year or two.
-- Campers at Steve Donahue's junior camp get their money's worth. We were walking through Conte during a session when we saw the coach sprinting up the stairs with an armful of practice jerseys. He was in a rush from one group to the next. How many other ACC coaches would make more than just a cameo appearance at their own camp?
-- I'm glad they don't lock Alumni. I don't think BC should advertise that it is easy to walk into the Stadium during the summer, but I am glad things were open when we visited. My kids ran around the field and had a great time. I've been chased off of an SEC stadium during a similar summer walk around a few years ago. At BC, no one hassled us.
I know that BC is a classic campus, but you forget how great it looks until you go back. It keeps changing and despite my minor gripes, it keeps getting more beautiful. I was proud and excited to share it with my next generation of BC fans.
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Agree.
My husband and I had an unexpected opportunity to take a quick trip to the campus a couple weeks back while in New England visiting relatives. I hadn't realized that Alumni would be wide open, and couldn't resist what I regarded as "sneaking" into the stadium for a few pictures.
B.C. does keep getting more and more beautiful as it seeks to strengthen its position as a world class university. As one of the last commuter students (class of '74) I can't help but feel that it is a very, very different place these days. In many ways, that's good, but I couldn't help but feel somewhat out of place, knowing that my 1970 self would have little chance of attending today.
But... go Eagles!
Funny, for all the changes, the MODs remain ( and remain highly coveted by seniors) ....and they get uglier by the year. They are now (and for many years) surrounded by a very ugly cyclone fence
The new building is a beauty. The Dust Bowl is gone. But I must say, about 6-7 years ago I was on campus and on the Dust Bowl - it was so much smaller then the "Dustbowl" of my college memories.
Dixie - there were still plenty of "mut-ahs" (commuters) In the early 80s (I think about 20% then)
I was hanging out with some high school acquaintances this weekend and when one of them found out I went to BC, he remarked that he could not believe how beautiful the campus was when he visited while on a business trip to Boston. It is way nicer than the late 80's, but they really need to destroy those Mods. They were designed as temporary housing in the 70's and here they are nearly 40 years later still standing (mine is long gone). That is prime campus space and would look so much nicer with either modern mods or how about a new recreation center? The Plex looked hideous in the 80's and it is still there. Tear it down and put up a modern rec center.
The Mods and the Plex must go!
The mods should be bulldozed as they are a blight on the campus. Very out of place and dated.
I guess the plex will be replaced at some point.
Now, if all donate a ton more money, the mods and plex will go and be replaced by total beauty to fit in with the upper campus.
Now, if all donate a ton more money, the mods and plex will go and be replaced by total beauty to fit in with the upper campus.
THe mods may be the most unsightly thing on campus other than drunk freshman passed out at a BC bus stop, but aside from the "tower on The Heights" I think they have the most meaning to students past and present, whether it be hatred or love. I can only hope some semblance of them stays forever.. no matter how much or little they fit in with the "proper look" of our university. Given the Jesuit Tradition, #EverToExcel should not just be about the most beautiful up-to-date, modern, technologically advanced housing.. but excepting everyone and everything as it is... whether they are commuters, geniuses, trust fund babies, brilliant architectural housing complexes, or the mods... We are BC... and we are a little bit of everything, damn it.
I wonder... are there any commuting students left at all?
Dixie - I think commuting students are no more at BC. The only commuters are probaly people with particular housing needs.
The commuters from my day (early 1980s) were quite different than the on-campus students. They rarely hung out in the dorms and all congregated in the Rathskellar in Lyons (or some place like that). There was very little integration with commuters and 'regular' students. Too bad, really
The commuters also often had much more pronounced Boston accents than kids on campus. I recall one kid telling me he was from "Puberty" MA. Huh? Really? where is that? (he was saying "Peabody"). Good Lord. At least he wasn't from Athol, MA
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