Fifty years ago in August, Bishop Hall had to be transformed from an office building back into a dorm at the last minute because of an influx of unexpected on-campus students.
In truth, when school began in 1974, Bishop Hall was not ready for prime time. The bathrooms were not finished. Neither were the dorm rooms. They stuffed three students in a room, with not enough closet and dresser space. And Bishop Hall became the only dorm on campus with men and women living side by side on the same floor—which led to some awkward moments. Some parents were not thrilled.
But the relative chaos and challenges forged a special bond among many of us:
• A dozen of us walking across campus to Scajaquada dining hall for brunch every weekend.
• Going to the college pub together.
• Singing and playing guitar in the stairwell, and having our own coffee house in the basement lounge.
• And, most unexpected, evacuating the dorm at midnight during snowfall when a mischievous student pulled the fire alarm about once a week.
So 50 years later, in 2024, three Bishop Hall survivors from around the country got together to share memories and old times.
As Bob Seger once sang, “see some old friends, good for the soul.”
—Eric J. Greenberg, ’74
Proud member of the “Bishop Hall Gang 1974”