As a transfer from WashU in St. Louis, I’ve had the privilege of attending two universities. The differences between the schools are various, ranging from a smaller student body and less pervasive Greek life at Washu, to regularly warm weather in Missouri. One of the largest differences between my experiences at WashU and Cornell is the availability of activities both on and off-campus. Since I’m not involved in Greek Life or other social organizations, I’ve found that my free time spent with friends is usually limited to hanging out in the dorm or going out to eat. Ithaca doesn’t have an abundance of things to do and Cornell lacks regular programming students take part of.

The Eddy Gate project would be great as a permanent addition close to campus. When I went over on Saturday, there were people milling about and performances every now and then. Though the manifestation of the project was a bit smaller than I was expecting, it was nonetheless enjoyable, well-planned and transformative. Recycling a non-academic space as one with food, games, and performances where the Cornell community can hang out is a fantastic idea and hopefully the project will continue and inspire others like it.

When I heard about the Eddy Gate Project, I was initially a little confused. All I knew of Eddy gate was that it was an apartment building. The actual event was held in the alley near the black wrought iron gate next to Cascadilla Hall. The project’s goal was to bring more visibility and vitality to the empty alley near the gate, and I can see why it was needed. Normally, that alley is entirely empty and the gate is an ornate entrance to nowhere. However, the project entirely transformed the area with nice outdoor seating, games, food trucks, and live entertainment. They even had an innovative “polling station” where you could leave a review on the event by dropping a colored ball into a container. Overall, the event was pretty great.

The idea of taking an underused or empty space and making it something valuable is a great one. I feel like most modern thought is geared towards creating something entirely new, rather than simply reworking the old. We didn’t need to construct an entirely new area to be a venue for outdoor gatherings. The Eddy Project took an existing structure and made it into a venue. I think it’s a valuable concept that we can all apply, whether on a small scale or large one.

*here is a photo for proof that I attended the Eddy Gate project.

On Saturday I was able to attend Eddy Gate with other rose scholars and friends. I had seen the olive green signs all over campus for a couple weeks, so I was excited to be able to see what all the advertisements were for. Eddy gate was a student-led project that aimed at revamping the empty area beneath the gate behind Cascadilla hall. The vision was to create a space that would be open to all members of the community to gather, eat, play games, and overall just chill. The team was able to fundraise money for the event through their go-fund- me page as well as several donations from different organizations on and outside of campus.

Overall, I had a great time at the space! We were able to play games like Connect Four and Katan. They really transformed the space from something that is scary to walk through during the night time to a well-lit and welcoming park. We were also able to see performances from different talented individuals and groups on campus which was a treat. It’s exciting to see students take charge and create change on the campus because often times it seems like rules are so set in place that nothing can be changed on such a large scale.  The team inspired me to look for something I want to change on campus and go for it! I hope they can make this change a permanent addition to campus.