There’s no denying that Berry has always been a great place. However, the classes of 2016, 2017 and 2018 faced a few struggles that freshmen will never know due to some changes the school has undergone in the past two years. Most freshmen will have no idea what you’re talking about if you mention most of these. Here is my non-comprehensive list of Berry struggles the freshman class will (hopefully) never face. In no particular order:
1. The Chastity Castle
Photo by James Crawford
Before this year, Ford was an all-female residence and had been since it’s construction in 1930. Due to the calm, quiet atmosphere and a long standing stigma the complex was deemed “The Chastity Castle.” This not-very-nice moniker for Ford has essentially been eradicated now that men are living in Clara. It’s sad that it took the introduction of males for people to start taking Ford seriously, but that discussion is beyond the scope of this post.
2. Not having a stadium
Photo by Dustin Monke
Before this year, home games weren’t at home. Students had to fight traffic and make the journey to Barron Stadium and enjoy Berry football. Having a football stadium on campus encourages school spirit and makes it much easier to cheer on the Vikings!
3. Filming fiascos
Photo shared by Actress Kristin Bauer van Straten on Twitter
The excitement of living on a T.V. set quickly faded as parking lots were filled, roads blocked and walking paths detoured. Even more upsetting: the “Kingmakers” pilot never aired. The West Mary lobby did get a nice make-over in the form of a bright new paint job, though.
4. The Berry Plague
February 2015 brought with it a debilitating flu that quickly became known as “The Berry Plague.” The panic was real: friends shunned each other, roommates kept one another at arms-length and students viewed their classmates with a wary eye. The Ladd Center filled with the plague victims as classes saw an abnormally high number of absent students. Those of us who managed to escape uninfected are still thankful, and we just hope that Berry won’t see another flu outbreak quite so far-reaching ever again.
5. “It’s Science, not McAllister.”
Photo from berry.edu
Before it was officially named, McAllister was simply known as “Science.” When the class of 2017 arrived, they were taught to call the building by its new name and faced some anger from the upperclassmen, who refused to call it anything but Science. Any reference to the building with its new name was quickly shut down. One could argue that history is repeating itself now that upperclassmen are correcting freshmen who call Valhalla by its new name, Viking Court, but the difference is that we’re right. Valhalla was the name of the food court before we even had a football team. Valhalla it will remain.
6. The Tragedy of Henry, a.k.a Ford Cat
Oh, poor Henry. The Ford ladies of the class of 2017 tried to protect you. Many of us let you into the warm protection of West Mary or provided you with the best cat food Wal-Mart has to offer. Unfortunately, we were no match for the unusually harsh winter. I can’t go to Ford without thinking about Henry and feeling his absence, and I know many of my classmates feel the same way.
7. The Gatehouse
Photo by Mary Siniard
In the days before the Welcome Center, we had the Gatehouse. The campus was open to everyone during the day, and the gate went down at 7 p.m. This worked well enough—unless you got back to campus after 7 p.m. A dispatcher or officer would typically see your parking pass on the front windshield and quickly let you in, but if your sticker was too low or headlights too bright, you’d have to turn off your headlights and speak to a Gatehouse worker before entering campus. This was no fun for the worker, who had to stop what they were doing and walk to your car, or for the student, who just wanted to get back on campus as quickly as possible. Say what you will about the necessity of the RFID stickers, but they sure do make things easier for both Gatehouse workers and students.