Old-school UR

[Wood Hall]

I arrived the year Saturday classes and chapel were discontinued, the year the Robins Center opened so I never went to a game at the old Arena on the Boulevard. But I remember:

* Classes in the barracks (current site of Weinstein Hall I believe).

* The bridge to Westhampton where the Commons is now. It was a long walk around the lake, the footbridge was not yet built.

* The Refectory (Sarah Brunet Hall). Male-only dining until 1974-75, at least. It was a big deal when the deli line and ice cream were added.

* Coffee, hot chocolate and donuts in the side room of the refectory late at night during December finals.

* Male-only English and history classes. I never took a co-ed English class; I had no co-ed history classes until Dr. Rilling's Tudor England class in 1975-76.

* Smoking in class, or in the Refectory.

* The lake being completely drained in 1974-75 and 1975-76, for construction of the Commons.

* Intramurals on the field next to Millhiser (gone after 72-73), on the X lot, off-campus on Bandy Lane, or on the Keller Hall field.

* Lambda Chi, Sigma Chi and Pike on one side of Old Fraternity Row; SAE, SPE, Phi Delt and Fiji on the other. KA, Kappa Sig, Phi Kap and Theta Chi on New Fraternity Row.

* Rush that lasted for three weeks, with band parties at all the lodges and then the kick-ass Block Party on NFR the final Saturday. Had to go into detox in October.

* The Slop Shop and Post Office on the bottom floor of the union; a TV room, a main room and a great pinball machine on the upper level. They sometimes showed movies in the big room, I remember seeing "Billy Jack" my freshman year.

* Maid service in the dorms.

* University-sanctioned keg/band parties in Millhiser, the auxiliary gym, Keller Hall field and the Greek Theatre.

* Phil's, and the Hitchin' Post in the Ridge Road Shopping Center over by Bernie's. Also a bar on Patterson, out by Parham, and another one down on Patterson, by Libbie. The Pass and Villa Pizza downtown, Emerson's in Carytown. The ABC store at the Village Shopping Plaza, Steak n' Eggs on Three Chopt, and the 7/Elevens on Libbie and over on Ridge Road.

* Panty raids. Weekend-only visitation on our side, none on the Westhampton side. Supposedly with the door always open. We had a big sit-in in the women's dorms my sophomore year to try to force more liberal rules.

* Greek Week chariot races and boat races on the lake, and the IFC sing in Millhiser.

* Getting up early my sophomore year to get in line to claim a good dorm room for next year. Got a great one, Moore A402.

* Home run derby. Home plate was by the Moore archway and it was a homer if you hit Dennis Hall.

* Getting your gym outfit from the cage inside the locker room in the RC. Gray shirt with the "R", gray shorts.

Probably more I forgot.

Those were the days!

 

[WebSpinner]

way before you buddy but a lot of the same things. however, freshmen males lived in the barracks, men sat in lounges waiting for their dates, were not allowed in westhampton dorms. ladies had to be in by 11:30 weeknights, 12:30 weekend nights. food fights in the refectory. the ladies ate with food on the table, passed around. we ice skated on the lake for about a week each winter, two weeks one really cold winter. the slop shop, post office, barber shop. underground tunnel trips. building floats which we rode from campus to city stadium on homecoming. no drinking of alcohol in the dorms or frat lodges, ahem. no robins center, just the mil. basketball at the arena, football at city stadium, baseball at pitt field where robins stadium now sits. one pay phone per section in the dorms. tossing sticks and logs for PIERPONT.

 

[AnnapSpider]

And a really bad memory. I took a blind date to my fraternity party. She didn’t drink, but
sipped on my drink.
I took her back to Westhampton and some horrible person reported her for drinking. She was kicked
out of school for the rest of the year. I became persona non grata at Westhampton.
Over 50 years and I still wish ill will on the the person that turned in my date.

 

[Wood Hall]

way before you buddy but a lot of the same things. however, freshmen males lived in the barracks, men sat in lounges waiting for their dates, were not allowed in westhampton dorms. ladies had to be in by 11:30 weeknights, 12:30 weekend nights. food fights in the refectory. the ladies ate with food on the table, passed around. we ice skated on the lake for about a week each winter, two weeks one really cold winter. the slop shop, post office, barber shop. underground tunnel trips. building floats which we rode from campus to city stadium on homecoming. no drinking of alcohol in the dorms or frat lodges, ahem. no robins center, just the mil. basketball at the arena, football at city stadium, baseball at pitt field where robins stadium now sits. one pay phone per section in the dorms. tossing sticks and logs for PIERPONT.

I forgot about baseball at old Pitt Field. No backstop, no outfield fences, and the cinder track running through right field. I operated the scoreboard on the hill in right field for $2 a game.

That was my freshman year. They played off-campus in 1974, out on River Road, and new Pitt Field opened my junior year. Old Pitt Field was redone with the new all-surface track. My younger brother played soccer at that field on UR's first varsity teams in 1977 and 1978.

 

[WebSpinner]

MAN, feel you on the young lady being booted. got my date, now my wife, in late one night, couple of minutes and she had to face the ladies who made up the group of gestapo who meted out the torture and worse for those who made a mistake. really tough at football games because there were always other women watching and turning in those who broke a rule. had to be very careful and why a lot of guys just went to rpi for dates. my wife got lucky and only received not being able to go out for a short period, probably a blessing for her not punishment. recall intramural hardy ball and phi kap, wearing their black shirts always ran a sleeper play when it was getting dark with guys blending in on the sidelines with their like clad brothers, those pesky guys. remember also we had fast pitch softball during intramurals and louie mills, our men's basketball coach pitched for the faculty and was basically unhittable. also recall PIERPONT taking infield grounders and running off with the balls, he was pretty good and almost replaced bonderant at first base one season....HA tom. forgot, how could i, mom and pop at the refectory, what a job they had. snowball fights with the old dorm windows breaking pretty easily. the tea room, that was fun and should still be there. we could probably keep adding things as they pop up and also, at my age, forgetting a lot.

 

[FRS1976]

I arrived the year Saturday classes and chapel were discontinued, the year the Robins Center opened so I never went to a game at the old Arena on the Boulevard. But I remember:

* Classes in the barracks (current site of Weinstein Hall I believe).

* The bridge to Westhampton where the Commons is now. It was a long walk around the lake, the footbridge was not yet built.

* The Refectory (Sarah Brunet Hall). Male-only dining until 1974-75, at least. It was a big deal when the deli line and ice cream were added.

* Coffee, hot chocolate and donuts in the side room of the refectory late at night during December finals.

* Male-only English and history classes. I never took a co-ed English class; I had no co-ed history classes until Dr. Rilling's Tudor England class in 1975-76.

* Smoking in class, or in the Refectory.

* The lake being completely drained in 1974-75 and 1975-76, for construction of the Commons.

* Intramurals on the field next to Millhiser (gone after 72-73), on the X lot, off-campus on Bandy Lane, or on the Keller Hall field.

* Lambda Chi, Sigma Chi and Pike on one side of Old Fraternity Row; SAE, SPE, Phi Delt and Fiji on the other. KA, Kappa Sig, Phi Kap and Theta Chi on New Fraternity Row.

* Rush that lasted for three weeks, with band parties at all the lodges and then the kick-ass Block Party on NFR the final Saturday. Had to go into detox in October.

* The Slop Shop and Post Office on the bottom floor of the union; a TV room, a main room and a great pinball machine on the upper level. They sometimes showed movies in the big room, I remember seeing "Billy Jack" my freshman year.

* Maid service in the dorms.

* University-sanctioned keg/band parties in Millhiser, the auxiliary gym, Keller Hall field and the Greek Theatre.

* Phil's, and the Hitchin' Post in the Ridge Road Shopping Center over by Bernie's. Also a bar on Patterson, out by Parham, and another one down on Patterson, by Libbie. The Pass and Villa Pizza downtown, Emerson's in Carytown. The ABC store at the Village Shopping Plaza, Steak n' Eggs on Three Chopt, and the 7/Elevens on Libbie and over on Ridge Road.

* Panty raids. Weekend-only visitation on our side, none on the Westhampton side. Supposedly with the door always open. We had a big sit-in in the women's dorms my sophomore year to try to force more liberal rules.

* Greek Week chariot races and boat races on the lake, and the IFC sing in Millhiser.

* Getting up early my sophomore year to get in line to claim a good dorm room for next year. Got a great one, Moore A402.

* Home run derby. Home plate was by the Moore archway and it was a homer if you hit Dennis Hall.

* Getting your gym outfit from the cage inside the locker room in the RC. Gray shirt with the "R", gray shorts.

Probably more I forgot.

Those were the days!

Those were the days for sure!
My future wife with other WC ladies sunbathing in bikinis in the Jenkins Greek Theater! My wife usually sunbathed in her white bikini!