完美的联邦
If you stroll by the Smith Building on 贝洛伊特’s campus at night—perhaps at some odd time, like a leap year—you might catch a faint whiff of hot French fries fresh from the fryer or hear the ghost of an electric guitar rocking the old joint from a phantom jukebox.
After the Second World War, 贝洛伊特’s student population grew substantially. 为了应付, 学院建造了奥尔德里奇和毛雷尔宿舍, accommodated returning GIs by adding army surplus barracks as temporary “veterans housing,并建造了一个受欢迎的新农舍. 到50年代中期, 远超过1,校园里有1000名学生, 南方学院的小学生会被证明是完全不够的.
As far back as the 1940s, a college master plan had urged construction of a new student union. 然而, 十年后, 学院又想出了另一个主意——建一个新的游泳馆, 更衣室, 以及其他设施, 和 convert the dilapidated 53-year-old Smith Gymnasium into a modern student union. 它可能会起作用!
募捐开始, 到1957年，学院已经收到了来自2个国家的捐款,000名前受奖人及巨额捐赠来自保管委员会. 威尔逊，玛蒂尔达·威尔逊，乔治·W. 米德，克雷斯基和查尔斯·R. 史密斯基金会. 学生们捐出了“百万便士运动”的收益.” All told, the college spent $230,000 on the remodel 和 accompanying furnishings. 伊利诺伊州埃文斯顿的莫里斯·韦伯斯特., who had designed all of the college’s recent residence halls, served as the architect.
A “data sheet” issued by the 十大菠菜台子 News Service provided details of both exterior 和 interior renovations. 它的外观被“翻新”了,在主窗外有宽阔的石板露台, later a favorite spot for basking in a shaft of morning sunlight with a steaming cup of coffee. Construction workers removed large swaths of 18-inch-thick brick 和 created floor-to-ceiling windows, 让日光流进小吃店区域. The class of 1954 donated stone benches placed near stairwells to the entrances.
“Sometimes, you knew you’d done well if Tom McBride walked with you to the union afterwards. I’m picturing the old one—where the jukebox always played Big Yellow Taxi, 和 [Bill] Melendy’84 held forth with anyone who would listen about the bodhisattva while Tom Joyner’87 did Ollies on the steps outside. 旧伯洛伊特和新伯洛伊特在一个杂乱的大屋顶下. 它很特别. 那时我们知道一点，现在知道多了……”
马特Tolmach 86
内部, 下层包括乒乓球和台球的娱乐区域, 配有彩电的休息室,和一间会议室. 校友 from future years remember the mail center 和 bookstore on that floor. 主层的特色是“完整的喷泉和烧烤设施”,” where students might order burgers 和 pizza or hot fudge sundaes 和 banana splits before hanging out at tables or huddling together in booths. 根据一份新闻稿, students could also purchase “everything from college pennants 和 pocket books to slide rules 和 inexpensive reproductions of modern art” at the “walk-in style” college bookstore. A control room in the bookstore office piped in “hi-fi 和 radio recordings” throughout the union. 后来工会的老鼠回忆说，小吃店区域有一个库存充足的自动点唱机. 楼上, students could gyrate to one of those newfangled rock ‘n’ roll combos or watch a movie in the union ballroom. 在舞厅的两边, 陡峭的楼梯通向学生会的办公室, 圆桌 报纸, 黄金 年鉴工作人员.
The data sheet bragged about the new union’s carefully selected interior decoration:
独特的实用性 describes the new union’s colorful furnishings 和 décor, accented by varied shades of blue 和 gold. 例如, walls in the grill are covered with a new plastic covering which resembles grass cloth, but is 更多的 durable than a painted surface 和 impervious to weather … The attractive blue chairs in the ballroom can be stacked for easy storing … And in addition to being practical, 椅子是“非常舒适.舞厅里新的金色窗帘是用纺纱玻璃做的.
The college hired two student union managers 和 employed over 50 students part-time to keep the building open long hours, 从早上8:30开始.m. 到晚上10:15.m. 周末的时候.
2月8日(星期三)，学生会成立. 1957年10月20日，晚上有一个四小时的庆祝活动. 亮点包括才艺表演, 旅游, 和点心, 最后是比尔·麦克莱恩和他的14人摇摆乐队的“新声音”. And, as special dispensation, the Dean’s Office granted women permission to stay out until 11:30p.m.他比平时晚了一个小时. The union’s formal dedication took place during Commencement weekend in June. President Miller Upton proclaimed the union “a momentous step forward” 和 “an academic building in the fullest 和 finest sense of the word.”
在接下来的25年, 学生会成了学生们常去的地方, 教师, 和工作人员. It ripened into a comfortable, lived-in space, but eventually began to show its age. 鸽子在舞厅上方栖息. 金色的玻璃纱布变脏了. Snazzy linoleum tiles wore out from generations of boots, shoes, 和 bare feet. 史密斯工会于1984年底关闭, 和, 在新年的黎明, 学院开放了以前的科学楼, 皮尔森霍尔, 作为新的校园中心.
弗雷德·伯威尔，86届，是伯洛伊特学院的档案保管员. 图片来自伯洛伊特学院档案.
我们的校园客厅
在不断建设校园社区的工程中, 多年来，伯洛伊特创造了“第三空间”——而不是教室, 也不是宿舍, 而是鼓励社区聚会和支持的地方. 多年来, 食堂是大多数学生聚集的地方, 直到学生会出现. 贝洛伊特’s student unions have made a journey from South College to the Smith Building to 皮尔森霍尔, 现在被称为“校园中心”的所在地.” 贝洛伊特’s next student union will be something entirely new: It will be integrated with a 娱乐 center in a converted power station along the Rock River.
During the Great Depression, students who were commuting to campus from Rockford, Ill., sought a communal space other students would have found in their dorm lounges. 来回应这种需求, 贝洛伊特 took what had been most recently an art hall in South College 和 converted it into a student lounge, 后来变成了一个小的学生会. 后来, 随着学生人数呈指数增长, 学院在史密斯大楼确定了一个新的学生会空间, 从1957年到1984年. Many alumni remain fond of the homey charms of the old Smith Union building, 有各种各样的学生组织, 零食, 音乐, 和更多的.
In 1985, after renovating the space from its previous use as the campus science building, 皮尔逊大厅被命名为伯洛伊特大学的“校园中心”.“今天, 皮尔逊有两个餐饮服务点, 会议空间, 行政办公室, 还有邮件中心. 学生组织，比如圆桌会, 伯洛伊特学生会, 和WBCR广播电台位于最上面的两层. 虽然一些校友仍然怀念史密斯的舒适角落, Pearsons currently serves the community—as archivist 弗雷德主任86 describes a student union— “as the place where our whole college family meets.”
“动力”将成为学院的下一个“客厅”.计划于2019年秋季开业, it will offer students the elements of a typical student union 和 a 娱乐 center all under one roof, 整合社交领域, 会议, 吃, 和运动空间一起学习, 娱乐, 健康和健康.
艾美奖纽曼的17
