Everyday I walk down the slope and open the heavy door to enter Lyon Hall, I see the sign that says “War Memorial” but I’ve never understood how a dorm could be a memorial.  Today, as part of the Rose Behind the Scenes Tour, I learned about the the memorial I’ve been living in for the past month and a half and I now have a new appreciation for Lyon.

The two towers (Lyon and McFaddin) and the archway leading onto West Campus were built to honor the Cornell students who lost their lives serving in WWI.  The names of all these students are engraved on the interior walls of the arch.  If you walk inside Lyon Hall, there are two mysterious doors to the left, which do not lead to dorm rooms and are locked most of the year.  On the tour, we were able to see the Memorial Room which lies behind these locked doors.

The construction of the memorial was organized by the secret society Quill and Dagger, who occupy the top of the Lyon hall tower and have their own elevator (I wish I had an elevator to take me up the 6 flights of stairs)!  No one is allowed to see the “sanctuary” at the top of the tower while they still could be chosen to be in the secret society (members are chosen at the beginning of their senior year).  So if you want to see it, I know I do, you just have to wait until your senior year after the Cornell Daily Sun publishes the names of members, find one of them, and get them to take you up!