This Rose Cafe had an live action component to it. I am so amazed by the literal underground tunnel that connects Becker and Rose!! I remember touring Columbia and they mentioned that students have crazy parties in the tunnels that connect the buildings and everything is kept hush hush. I’m not sure if the West Campus tunnels are the ideal tunnels for parties though, especially because there is absolutely zero sound protection: Prof. Blalock’s kids, whose bedrooms are so conveniently located right above the tunnel, probably won’t be too thrilled to hear a college party when they are trying to sleep.

Definitely a very cool experience overall. I am amazed that Lyon hall has an elevator!! Unfortunately, you have to be a quill and dagger member to be able to use the elevator to go up the floors 🙁 unfair!! It should be Lyon hall members + Quill and Dagger be allowed to use the elevator. Anyways, the room inside Lyon hall is so beautiful. It’s this small room dedicated to Cornellians who died in WWI and it looks like it’s straight out of the Smithsonian. I really liked the super intricate designs of it all.

A really cool part of the trip, a very underrated part of it I would say, was going into the kitchen’s front of the house and peaking at the Rose dining hall from the restaurant staff perspective aka behind the buffet dishes. It was a whole new point of view and it was cool.

Something else that really shocked me is the fact that West Campus was sort of made and then in an effort to finish as fast as possible, the end of construction did not conform to all the architectural rules. Basically, the team took a lot of shortcuts hence the practically sound transparent tunnel walls, and multiple other things. I am kind of amazed how this was overlooked by the workers/overseers. I thought in America, where rules are pretty strictly enforced, these types of issues aren’t a thing. But I guess not!! In India, these types of shortcuts are always happening and people are always getting played. They can’t really do anything about it because there’s no one there to enforce the laws.

Last week, I had the opportunity to listen to Professor Blalock discuss the early structure of West Campus as well as take us on a tour to see various locations in Becker House which turned out to be turned out to be secrets passageways to Rose House. Learning about the history of all the give houses, and how they’ve evolved to give many students a community they can call “Home” at Cornell was very interesting to me.  Being a transfer, I deeply appreciate the arrangement of the House structure as it has allowed me to foster many new friendships and has made my transition to Cornell a lot easier.  I believe that Cornell’s interconnected building structure is symbolic of the interconnected shared experiences that all people living on West Campus have. In fact, I’ve found that this shared interconnectedness between all the houses is the reason I have been able to make so many friends here and is thus a popular place for transfer students to live in.  Living in the Main House, I never realized how close our Gothic neighbours are as I have usually just visited all the main houses and missed the beauty of the Gothics. In particular, it was interesting for me to see the War Memorial room and learn about the history surrounding the room because this room is not usually open to students and had it not been for this day, I would not have been able to see and appreciate the beautiful and unique aspects of Rose House.  I often find myself not stepping out of my room nearly as often as I would like to explore the sights surround Rose House since due to the stress of school it can be easy to forget how grateful I am to be able to get to live in this community.

My biggest takeaway from this experience was understanding how the Housing system’s culture and creation in history have contributed to the unique community it holds for students. I learned that all the buildings in West Campus are the only buildings that are not named after wealthy donors, which I believe shows how this community is passionate about reinforcing equality and shared interconnectedness between students. Overall, this discussion was eyeopening to me about the views that are right around me which I plan to take advantage of and reminded me of how the unique structure of this community has contributed to my happiness at Cornell.

I have lived on West Campus for over a year, my oldest sister lived on West Campus one year during her time at Cornell, and both of my parents went to Cornell, but there is still SO much about Cornell and West Campus that I never knew before.

Last Wednesday, I went to the Rose Cafe event “History and Secrets of West Campus” with House Professor Garrick Blalock and learned about West Campus areas not usually known about or available to the public. This included a behind-the-scenes of West Campus’ underground, where food is transported to West Campus without being seen, and the War Memorial Room, which (as far as I’m aware of) recently has only been available to the public on September 11 in remembrance of the 9/11 attacks.

The event started in Professor Blalock’s room within Rose House, a 3-story apartment that he shares with his family and the Rose House dog, Pepper. While there, he talked about the history behind the West Campus housing system’s development from Ezra Cornell’s desire to not have dorms on campus, to the development of “university halls” (or “u-halls”), to the creation of Houses 1 through 5 (the names the houses were referred to as before being named after faculty members rather than donors). I had never heard most of this history before due to my parents never living in the West Campus Houses, as they were built after they had left, and my oldest sister never having an event like this occur while she was on West.

After a brief look at Professor Blalock’s room, he led the event to the first location: the underground of West Campus. Starting from a doorway nearby Becker’s dining hall, Professor Blalock led me and the other students at the event through the pathways underneath West Campus. We passed by dining halls, food fridges, offices, the doorway that both brings in food and brings out trash, and many more “secret” doors before reaching the elevator to bring us back to Rose Main. It was interesting seeing how planned out West Campus was in certain aspects, such as making sure that no one would get hurt from large food or trash trucks constantly coming onto West. Also, a fun fact that was shared with the group: Professor Blalock’s apartment is right on top of where the elevator to the basement is, so he can always hear when people are down there. It is possible to visit this area without Professor Blalock being there, but there’s no way to call the elevator from the basement (a security measure put in so visiting workers don’t go into the dorms), so visitors need to either exit via the trash/food doors or through the emergency stairwell.

The second, and last, location shown as part of the event was the War Memorial Room. Although there is not much physically in the room (a few different countries’ flags, benches, etc.), it represent much more than this as it was originally a monument to the 264 Cornellians who died in World War I. We sadly did not get to spend as much time in the War Memorial Room as I would have liked (as we spent a lot of time in the underground of West Campus), but it was still interesting to see an importance place that honored Cornellians of the past. There was also a wall dividing the group from I believe is an elevator or stairs leading up to the meeting place of the “secret” society, Quill and Dagger. If you are a senior and have not yet been “tapped” to be in Quill and Dagger, you can see the secret room if you find someone within the society to take you up there. Maybe I’ll see if I can visit there just before I graduate if I don’t get “tapped”?

Overall, the event was very interesting, as I learned “new” history about Cornell that I could share with my family.

Last Wednesday I attended the Rose Café for History and Secrets of West Campus. I was really excited for this event because I feel like a lot of the ideology behind the creation of west campus has gone over my head, and this was a good learning opportunity. I’m definitely very glad that I came to this event.

As a transfer student, coming to Cornell and being placed on West Campus without any sort of primer was very confusing. While I’m extremely grateful that I’m here, there was a definite period of disorientation. Returning freshmen have the benefit of attending different information sessions to learn about West, but we transfers did not. I vividly remember reading out my housing assignment to my mom this past summer and she responded by asking, “Wait, so you’re going to be living in a house?” There wasn’t really anyone who reached out to touch base and explain what the system was and why it was set up ten years or so ago, so I mostly just assumed it was set up like my freshman dorm system at the school I transferred from—a loosely affiliated set of buildings with the same administrative team watching over them. Since then I’ve learned a lot and have grown to be extremely grateful for the community Rose House provides, but there definitely was a learning curve.

This event really helped bring to light a lot more of the intricacies of the house system. More specifically the layout; I had no idea that the gothics were designated historical landmarks, which presented significant complications during the construction of the rest of the main buildings. Additionally, it was interesting to finally learn the truth about Quill and Dagger. From the day I arrived on campus, people were spinning tales about an elusive secret society that owned one of the towers by Baker Flagpole, but nobody seemed to know any more details than that. It’s nice to have an answer. In all, This event genuinely helped me understand the motivations behind the creation of the house system, and the role it plays in the greater Cornell community.

Last week I attended Professor Blalock’s talk on the history of West Campus. He gave an excellent synopsis of the impetus and reasoning behind expanding West Campus to what it is today. Although the gothic’s are quite old, the Houses were conceived of around 20 years ago, when the university decided to expanding their current offerings to compete with the amenities of other schools. The idea was to create intellectual residential communities, and one of the components was a live-in House Professor. Personally I think that this is critical to such a community: both last year when I lived in CKB and this year in Rose House, I’ve attended several events hosted by the live-in professor; events that wouldn’t have existed otherwise.

Professor Blalock also took us into several lesser known areas in the houses; the most striking of which was the War Memorial in the north tower. It’s an absolutely gorgeous room rich in symbolism. It reminded me of how rich and varied this campus is, and how much of it I probably won’t get to see while I’m a student here. Going to Rose Scholar events regularly has really given me an extra dimension into what is hidden here on campus.

It’s fair to say that House Professor Garrick Blalock’s tour of some of the more secretive components of West Campus has given me a new appreciation for the inner workings of the West Campus dormitories. Until last Wednesday, I was not aware of the highly secretive Quill and Dagger society. Learning about their positioning within Lyon hall, and some of their history and mysterious nature, was fascinating. More interesting altogether, though, was understanding the significance and depth of the War Memorial. I was aware of the existence of the War Memorial before the tour, but I was not aware of the book kept with the names of Cornell alumnus fallen in battle, nor the sheer decorative beauty of its encapsulating room.

But by far the most interesting thing to me was learning about the behind the scenes day to day of the dining hall staff and their procedures. If pressed beforehand, I would have guessed that the West Campus dining system was a large scale endeavor. That’s a lot of mouths to feed, quite simply. However, the care and endeavor simply required to supply Becker dining hall far exceeded my expectations. There were probably about a dozen offices, and many, many palettes of food and other supplies. From the perspective of inside the dining hall, it’s hard to get a sense of just how large the kitchen itself is. And, beyond that, it takes an entire loading dock to supply Becker and Rose Dining Halls with food. The scale of the operation was a combination of both awesome and humbling. From my perspective, and I imagine many of you, we swipe our card and grab a plate of food. It’s quite simple. Understanding the magnitude of labor necessary to make something so simple happening was a fun and rewarding experience.

I know it’s hard to run a university but really don’t know it’s also hard to run a housing system.

Last Wednesday, House Professor Garrick Blalock gave us a very instructional talk on the housing system in West campus. To be honest, I didn’t expect there are so many behind-scenery things about the housing system but after the talk, I can say that the housing system is an irreplaceable part of a university and running the housing is hard as running the education system in Cornell.

Professor Blalock introduced the roles of House Professor in the houses and I’m really glad that we have such position in our house who ‘acted like the queen of Britain’, complaining about everything that could be improved to make students’ life better. Also, I’m glad that I understood better the role of House Professor and the positions and tiers of staff for each house. It’s hard to believe that there are so many people working for us in the house and I would definitely thank them for their devoted work if I got a chance to meet them.

Also, professor Blalock showed us some hidden corridors or paths that staff use to transport food. Cornell not only has a well-established staff team on running the housing system but also has outstanding and advanced equipment and resources which make both staff and students’ life more convenient and improve the working quality. I can feel it’s a really big decision to invest so many money on housing system.

After learning both empirical and practical knowledge, I’m personally very grateful that I chose to live on campus. While it’s a great experience of living in apartments independently, we won’t have too many chances in the future years where we could enjoy good food, mailing services, and other resources and also, more importantly, a community of sharing and discovering more new things. Cornell has been here for 150 years and it must have something to offer and to tell.

I thought it was really cool to explore ethe behind the scenes of west campus by learning about the underground tunnel system that’s mostly utilized by food service, and also seeing the War Memorial Room in Lyon hall which is a cool site especially since you need a key to get in. I would love to see the tunnels again but the pathway is hard to remember. I think this particular Rose House event, especially seeing the War Memorial Room, really made me realize what a rich history Cornell has, and I hope to explore more mystery sites before graduating!

Although I’ve lived on West for over a year, there is not much that I really knew about it. During the Rose Café, Professor Blalock provided a lot of information about the history of Cornell and West Campus. In particular, I found the early history of West Campus very interesting.

West Campus was initially envisioned to be a ‘terrace’ that overlooked Cayuga Lake. The original plan included a large number of buildings, to form a sizable community for students who lived on campus. The first building to be constructed on West was Founders, in 1914. Unfortunately, the plan was abandoned after the construction of the dorms that we now refer to as the gothics. Although subtle, the early intention for West is visible in the placement of the gothics. They form an incomplete ‘ring’ that stretches from Boldt (Near Cook) to McFaddin (Near Bethe). There were also other buildings called U-Halls, but they were later demolished to make space for newer dorms that could house more people.

The new dorms on West were built from 2004 to 2008. Cook House was the first to be built, while Rose House was the last. An interesting fact about these houses was that they were named after remarkable members of Cornell’s faculty. Additionally, there are underground tunnels connecting some of them to each other. With the construction of these new houses, West also got five new dining halls. Prior to this, there was a single, large dining hall called Jansen’s approximately where Bethe House is located (The dining hall in Bethe is still called Jansen’s, while other four are named after the houses they’re in).

Overall, it was fascinating to learn about the history of West campus. Specifically, how most significant decisions in its construction and development left subtle marks (Like the arrangement of the gothics). It will be interesting to see how West changes in the future, in terms of adding more houses or renovating the current infrastructure.

I have walked the arch of West Campus numerous times during my time at Cornell. During my walk, up the stairs and up the slope, I have never once noticed a door that opens to lead to a room in between the arch and Lyon hall. During my Spring 2018 semester, I have walked past the door in Lyon Hall that leads to this room and not once did it occur to me to open that door. To my surprise, after partaking in this activity, the door I never once thought to open leads to a war memorial room. Although this room was spooky and cold, it seems to hold pieces of history that seem to be forgotten. Only once during a blue moon are the secrets that are held in this room ever noticed. One piece of artifact that I found to be of interest was the copy of a letter from Lyndon B. Johnson. The letter was interesting to view and allowed me to catch a glance of the past. The room itself looked antique and very befitting for a war memorial room. Another interesting stop on this activity was the basement level of Rose House. It has never dawned on me to push the button to get to the basement level of Rose House. It was interesting to find out that once you reached the basement level, you cannot use the elevator to go back up Rose House from the basement level. In all, I thought this activity to be interesting. This activity helped me to realized that all the secrets of Cornell may be impossible to discover in four years. There might always be a mystery that one person might not know or discover during their time at Cornell.

Did you know there is a tunnel underneath our Rose House kitchen? Yeah neither did I! You can even get down to it from the main house elevator, but I don’t recommend it because then you can’t get back up and you’ll be stuck in the maze of tunnels. And Prof Blalock can hear every word from the tunnel in his downstairs apartment so you have to find another place to trash talk himBefore we went on the tour of the Becker-Rose tunnel system, Prof told us about the history of West Campus. What sets Cornell apart from the other Ivys was Ezra Cornell’s radical idea of having any person doing any study. Ezra also didn’t want to have typical Ivy dorms like Yale that had one room for the student and a smaller room in the suite for their servant. Another radical idea for the 1860’s. When I heard that I was shocked and relieved I chose a much more accepting and progressive university to attend. Thank you Professor Blalock for the informative chat and interesting tour!

Last week I went to a Rose Cafe where we took a tour of the hidden parts of West Campus. This was really interesting because we got to go to the tunnels and see the path that our food takes as it makes its way up to campus. We even got to see the huge refrigerators and the hidden parts of the kitchens. I didn’t really realize how big of an undertaking it is feeding students and taking care of West Campus until I went on this tour. Whenever we go to a dining hall, we just see the food loaded up on trays and we don’t really think about how it gets there. It must take a lot of workers to make sure that all of us are fed, and it really made me feel more appreciative of the work that gets put in in ensuring that all of us on West are taken care of.

We also got to talk with Professor Blalock and learn more about his role in Rose House. One of the things that we mentioned was that he was the one who helped put the barriers on Gothic Way. Though this does make things harder whenever we’re going to and coming back from break, I’m really glad that they’re there. West Campus has its own unique beauty, and part of that is that there are no cars going through it. It’s really nice to be able to walk around with friends, or with earphones in and looking at your phone, without having to worry about getting hit by random cars.

This week’s Rose Cafe was about the very interesting history of West Campus as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of some really cool places. I have been living at Rose House for the last one and a half years now but I didn’t really know much about why these main houses were built and how it ties in together with the culture of Cornell. For example, as I am sure everyone knows, Cornell University was founded on the principle that any person could study any subject. In the 1860s, ‘any person’ meant people from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, etc; something that set Cornell apart from the rest of the Ivy League. For that reason, Ezra Cornell didn’t want people living in dorms like some exclusive club; he wanted people to live in town with the community. I really loved this idea of “elite, not elitist.” However, about 20 years ago, Cornell realised it was a real liability to not have undergraduate housing in some form and so plans were made to build the modern dorms in West and North Campus.

The second part of the program was equally fascinating. We first a took a trip through the twists and turns of the underground tunnel between Rose House and Becker House as well as the multiple elevators utilized for transporting food into our dining hall. Learning about the process made me feel really appreciative of all the effort that goes into it and all the workers who help keep the dining hall going. Afterwards, we headed to the war memorial room in Lyon Hall pictured below. This has also inspired me to explore more of campus and check out other lesser-known places.

West Campus is larger than it appears. This week, I had the pleasure of exploring different parts of West Campus as I continue to learn more about the place I call home. Before we departed for our journey, however, Professor Blalock gave us an interesting overview of the history of West Campus. For instance, I had no idea that Rose House was the last house on West Campus to be built, or that West Campus was tremendously expensive, since it was rushed to be constructed in order to avoid the increasing costs of building supplies, only for the recession to hit and for the construction costs to decrease dramatically the year following its completion. But to me, the most eye-opening part of our event was the actual exploration of Becker and Rose Houses.

We began our journey at Becker House, traveling through the underground tunnels that I had no idea even existed. Among the first attractions we saw was the kitchen, followed by the food storage area. This part was really captivating for me since I never saw the kitchen and the dining hall with this back-room perspective. It was also interesting to see all the different food stored away to be used in future meals. The next fascinating portion of our tour was the facilities’ offices, which is the center of building care and where staff meet in the morning to discuss daily objectives. This was particularly interesting to me, since I had no idea where facilities personnel operated from.

Following our tour of Becker House, we entered Rose House through a connecting tunnel. For me, the most fascinating part of Rose House we explored was the tunnel underneath Professor Blalock’s apartment. I found it very interesting that, according to Professor Blalock, although it appears that the tunnel absorbs all sounds, every conversation in the tunnel travels to his apartment and he and his family can hear every word spoken. I was shocked by this fact, since the tunnel looked as if no sound can escape, but as I’ve learned, looks can be deceiving, and in this case, they were.

Overall, our discussion and tour was both informative and captivating, as I got to learn more about West Campus and had the opportunity to explore parts I had no idea existed. Because we as residents have access to the newly discovered tunnels, I would definitely like to go down again and explore further. I thought I knew everything about Rose House, but I was wrong. Everything is a learning opportunity, and I am hopeful to be able to learn even more about our dorm.

On Wednesday, Professor Blalock showed a group of students around the tunnel connecting Rose and Becker. It was interesting to see a new part of campus. Students know about the tunnels connecting Olin and Uris, Life Sciences and Plant Sciences, and of course Ezra’s tunnel. But I think less are aware of the West campus tunnels (there’s also a tunnel connecting Bethe and Keeton). I wonder why it’s so interesting to explore tunnels and learn about them. In our case, it’s not really like they have much practical value for the students, and yet it still seems like something worth knowing.

Anyways, one of the things I thought about was, “if there could be a new tunnel on campus accessible to students, where should it be built?” A couple ones I’ve thought about are: tunnel system connecting north campus buildings to Appel/RPCC/Helen Newman, Olin & Willard Straight & Uris, Goldwin Smith & Rockefeller, Rockefeller & Malott, Mann & Human Ecology, Uris & Statler, Statler & ILR, Johnson & Statler… It would also be cool to have a tunnel that goes under Libe slope and has an elevator connected to Uris. You could have the entrance built into the slope across from Baker flagpole. Probably the most radical idea I’ve had is a suspension tunnel running from Helen Newman over Beebe lake to the Human Ecology building. It would make the commute from North to the Ag quad so much better.

I’m not sure it’s entirely infeasible to have new tunnels built. And it would be really cool if the school started investing in building more. After all a number of schools have tunnels for students. Just after a bit of googling I found that the schools with them include Penn State, University of Michigan, University at Albany, MIT, Wright State University, University of Chicago,  Columbia, and University of Rochester. If they can have them why not us?

This Wednesday, I went to an event about not only the conception of and creation of West Campus housing, but also about some hidden treasures that most people don’t know about. Dr. Blalock’s explanation of how the completion of the West campus housing system was expensive because of the 2008 economic crash made me realize how many outside factors affect us students’ lives. Although we may think our dissatisfaction with something such as the limited housing available has to do with allocation of school funds and donations, it is more complex.  The price of steel, cement, and other building materials has a deep affect on how soon and how much buildings are made.

The tour at the end of the discussion made me realize how we students rarely think about what occurs behind the scenes. We enjoy the benefits of having food delivered every day for every meal without realizing how it gets here. I think this experience was very eye-opening. I feel like I know more about the day-to-day running of the school. This also makes me feel more included in the community. I also realized the school community includes not only the students, but the workmen who deliver our food, the dining and facilities staff. It also orients me to how outside factors affects the school in ways people might not see.

This week’s Rose Cafe was a popular one; led by Professor Blalock, we explored two “hidden” places in Rose House on West Campus that were completely unknown to me before. It seems that I learn one more of Cornell’s many secrets every single day. We followed Professor Blalock underground, through a tunnel that connects Becker and Rose House. Interestingly enough, the walls and ceiling aren’t soundproof. It is amazing how many times I have walked past these tunnel entrances and have never thought twice about what might be behind those doors. The other spot we visited was not-so-secret: the War Memorial connecting Lyon and McFaddin Hall. Although students walk through this room everyday, few probably realize its significance. After reading the names of Cornellians who died in war, I have learned to appreciate this campus much more. With so much history in its walls, nearly every room holds special meaning. This week, I was reminded that we are never done learning about our school; just when we think we have it figured out, an entire tunnel appears before us that leads us down another new path. For this reason, we should always keep our minds and eyes fully open.

During Wednesday’s Rose Café, Professor Blalock talked to us about West Campus’s fascinating history and took us to the tunnel that connects Cook, Becker, and Rose. It is interesting that Ezra Cornell did not want dorms on campus when the university was originally founded. It is also interesting that West Campus was built to attract new students and offer some kind of on-campus housing like other universities. It is strange to think about a time where Cornell did not have dorms because I am accustomed to dorm life and would not know what life at Cornell would be like without them. It is also fascinating that the West Campus houses were not named after rich donors, but rather former professors.

Furthermore, before the Rose Café, I did not know that there were tunnels that connected Cook, Becker, and Rose and then another tunnel that connects Keeton and Bethe. I also never knew that all the food that we get in Rose arrives via the tunnel. It was very interesting to see how the food gets to Rose. I am very grateful for the staff who brings our food to the dining halls through the tunnel. If I see any of them, I will make sure to say thank you. It is amazing to learn about the history of the place that I call home during the semester and to understand how West Campus became West Campus. This Rose Café made me open my eyes more to West Campus and also made me want to learn more about Cornell and its history. I want to continue learning about more parts of Cornell that I have not heard of before and to discover new places on campus.

The housing system at Cornell is really fascinating. As someone who transferred from another university, I was shocked by the lack of housing intended for students both on and off campus. At my previous university, the oldest dorms were built in the 1970s, and most people lived off-campus, either in relatively new apartments built to meet student demand or in old apartments build in the heyday of the 1890s. I took a housing policy class last semester that was a great introduction to the complex factors that shape Ithaca’s housing market. Because of that background, it was interesting to hear about the historical factors that led to Cornell having such limited student housing. Namely, the interesting fact that student housing was intentionally not built to avoid having a sequestered, out-of-touch student population like those found at other universities at the time.

It was also cool to hear about the rush of building west campus right before the crash. I knew Rose was opened in 2008, but never really connected that with the expense of building supplies before the crash. It’s also really interesting to consider the gothics

Here’s a picture from wikipedia of the original plan for west campus from the 1920s. Apparently, a full pamphlet is available in Koch Library.

On Wednesday, I attended the Rose Cafe where Dr. Blalock led a discussion on the history of West Campus and then gave a tour of two hidden areas on West Campus: the underground tunnels connecting Becker and Rose houses and the War Memorial Room in Lyon Hall.  Dr. Blalock explained the motivation for Cornell investing hundreds of millions of dollars to construct five new dorm buildings on West: to address Cornell’s housing needs and to rival other top universities’ residential college programs, while creating spaces to extend learning to where students would live.  

Blalock also gave an in-depth tour of two areas that most Cornell students never see.  I was surprised to hear him explain the constant flow of food deliveries through the Becker-Rose tunnel which enables Cornell Dining to serve thousands of meals each day.  We saw where all the food is stored and later prepared in the two kitchens.  The last stop on the tour, the Lyon War Memorial Room, is only open a few times a year.  It houses a list of fallen soldiers and a related letter from President Hoover.  When I lived in Mennen Hall last year, I passed by the door to this room nearly every day, not knowing what it was until this cafe.  

Throughout the tour, Dr. Blalock reflected on his time as Rose’s House Professor Dean, as his term ends this semester.  He talked about many of his experiences at “House 5”, the name for Flora Rose House while the five buildings were under construction.  He identified one of his lasting impacts on this campus: installing electric gates on both ends of Gothics Way (the road that runs through the middle of West Campus).  He identified a problem that he believed was crucial to solve to ensure student safety: delivery vehicles were barreling through this road that nearly every student crosses to enter West Campus.  His efforts were met with opposition, yet he fought until his proposal was implemented.  I was surprised to hear that a gate was not present since the inception of that road, and I now have an even greater appreciation for all Dr. Blalock has done to improve student life on West Campus.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this cafe as it enlightened me on the entire process which ends with food being served to students.  I look forward to future Rose Cafes that continue this theme of examining the hidden aspects that keep Cornell running smoothly.  

This week, I attended a Rose Cafe in which Professor Blalock gave us a tour of the underground tunnel system connecting Becker to Rose and the War Memorial room. Before this event was announced, I had no idea that either of these existed. It was not even something I had considered, but, as an engineering student, I am always interested to learn about the inner workings of the building. I was surprised to learn that all of the food comes in through Becker and is transported to Rose underground. It does make more sense to deliver everything to one central location and distribute it on a smaller scale, but it is just something I had never thought about.

The most interesting part of the tour, however, was the War Memorial room in Lyon Hall. I did not know this was there, but I am really glad to have seen it. It is an incredibly small room, but has just enough beautiful war memorabilia to make an impact. Whether it be the list of names of fallen soldiers from the World Wars, a letter from President Hoover regarding these soldiers, or even the architecture of the room, I would recommend a visit to anyone. Unfortunately, the room is typically locked, but if you ever see it open, check it out.

This past Rose Cafe was by far one of my favorites. Professor Blalock started out by giving us all a brief history of West Campus. There were several points that stood out to me. One was that the landscaping of West Campus was never completed, due to the economic situation at the time (Rose, the last of the houses built, was completed right before the recent recession). I actually had never noticed the lack of landscaping on West Campus, but now that I know about it, it is immediately noticeable. For instance, the lawn between Rose and Bethe always seems to be in a horrible state, and there are very little flowers, trees, or benches in the area. Another thing that stood out to me was the naming of the houses. Cornell apparently kept the names of the five houses on West Campus very secret during construction, referring to them only as “House 1,” “House 2,” etc. As Rose was the last of the houses to be completed, it was referred to as “House 5.” Even to this day, there are still things at Rose that are labeled “House 5.” Professor Blalock gave the example of shovels. The example that I noticed was the printer in the computer room in Rose Main, before the current card-scanning printing system was implemented. Back then, you had to select the specific printer that you wanted to print from. I had always wondered why the printer at Rose was not called something like “Flora Rose House,” but instead “house 5” (Last I checked, they still have the old sign up in the computer room on how to print from there, and it says to select the “house 5” printer, so you can go check this out for yourself if you want). Now I know why the printer was named as it was.

The second part of the Cafe was even more exciting: getting to see some of the secrets to West Campus in person. While I had already seen the War Memorial Room before, the tunnels were completely new to me. We started out by heading over to Becker, where we entered a tunnel behind their dining hall kitchen. We got to see the back entrance to that kitchen, as well as the food storage room for Becker’s dining hall, the room that the facilities staff has their meetings in, and the Becker loading dock–which is used by both Becker and Rose. We then followed a tunnel, passing through two elevators, to get back to Rose. The whole thing was super fascinating, and a bit disorienting. If Professor Blalock had not specifically announced where we were in relation to the structures on the surface, I would not have known where I was. At one point, we passed another elevator, and I remember that one of the other students asked Professor Blalock where that elevator went to. It was the main elevator in Rose! Professor Blalock also said, when we were by the first elevator that we went through, that we were right underneath his apartment. Everything just seemed so different underground, that I had a hard time figuring out where I was at any given moment. So, a warning to anyone who wants to check out the tunnels–it seems like it would be pretty easy to get lost in them. Furthermore, while it is fairly easy for someone who lives in Flora Rose House to access the tunnels–all you have to do is get into the Rose Main elevator and press “B”–it is much harder to get out. Apparently we do not have access to call the elevator from the tunnels. This means that, while you can take the elevator down into the tunnels, you cannot take it back out. Therefore the only way to exit the tunnels is through an exit outside, such as the loading dock by Becker (Also, once you enter the loading dock, you can no longer get back into the tunnels, as the doors into the tunnels all have card scanners on them–as well as no-prop alarms, apparently). So if you do decide to venture into the tunnels, make sure you can get back out!

We come to Cornell to learn. To learn about what we’re interested in, what we think interests us, what we believe matters. And we come to West Campus to live. For friends, good food, and old buildings. But when and where should the two intersect?

At this week’s Rose Cafe, we explored this intersection. We began by contextualizing the famous motto “Any Person, Any Study” by exploring the fact that our home-away-from-home played a huge role in normalizing and instituting higher education for historically marginalized populations. West campus’s rich history as a bargaining chip aimed at attracting prospective Harvard and Yale students proved effective. But as we discussed a loss in the budget and minimal landscaping, other aspects of our rich history surfaced.

I believe we are very privileged by being students at Cornell. Unfortunately, we rarely see the inner workings necessary to accommodate our pampered stay. By adventuring down into the tunnels which provide us with supplies of food and other amenities, I feel that we are grounded. The staff who work daily to provide us with an amazing experience become visible and remind us to show appreciation. And once again, the motto “Any Person, Any Study,” should inspire us– inspire us to mobilize social justice.

I thought this Rose Café teaching us about the history of Cornell and the history of West Campus—why it was built and the events surrounding its building—was really awesome. Hearing about Cornell’s commitment to social justice and to seeing the inherent dignity in all people and its mission to ensure that any person can pursue any student really makes me proud to be a Cornellian and reminds me of why I wanted to come to Cornell in the first place. With midterms just around the corner, getting that reminder about why I came here in the first place is certainty a morale booster. Additionally, while I am sure every student here is aware of Cornell’s mantra— “any person, any study”—I really appreciated how Professor Blalock contextualized that commitment, showing how truly progressive and insightful it was. I had never heard that the first African American who graduated from Cornell was born a slave, and after learning about this powerful example of what Cornell’s commitment to allow any person to pursue any study made possible, that mantra will certainty resonate more profoundly with me than it did before.

I also thought it was really cool that Professor Blalock gave us a behind the scenes look at all that is going on in Rose House and shared some stories about his time as House Professor at Rose. Some of the Rose Cafes I have loved the most have delved into the history that is alive on West Campus. Last year, for example, an archivist visited and taught us all about Flora Rose, her impact on the College of Human Ecology, and her legacy. I think learning about West Campus—its history and what is going on behind the scenes—really enriches the experience of living here.

Also, I really love the idea of having Rose Scholars events that offer an inside look at some of the “hidden” treasures at Cornell. There are so many diverse events, interesting projects, and fascinating spaces at Cornell that are under-the-radar, so to speak, or not readily apparent to us as we go about our daily travels on campus. I would definitely enjoy more events like these that would highlight the amazing things that are part of or occurring at Cornell.

Dr. Blalock’s talk on Rose House’s history and tour of the tunnels were both quite enlightening.

I had never noticed that West Campus’s houses were not named after donors. I knew that Flora Rose had been a professor here, but I had assumed that she or her estate had made some sort of donation to the university, and that was why “House 5” was named after her. I love how these dormitories built to sustain a type of living-leaning community are named after professors, people who promoted learning at this institution.

Dr. Blalock also brought up an important point when discussing the controversy surrounding the (very expensive) construction of West Campus. While luxurious dorms for upperclassmen are far from a necessity for a university, they are necessary in order for Cornell to compete with other universities of similar academic caliber. If Cornell wants to convince the best and brightest to come here, it needs to have attractive housing options that can compete with those of MIT, Stanford, and the Ivy League.

I was most disappointed to hear that West Campus’s landscaping budget had been cut in order to finish its construction quickly at a lower cost. Before Dr. Blalock had mentioned it, I hadn’t really noticed that West Campus’s grounds were somewhat… sparse in comparison to North Campus’s. Now that I think about it, I do miss the colorful beds of flowers and huge trees that surrounded Balch Hall. I would love to see benches for reading and for enjoying the incredible view of Ithaca. Whenever I want to read outdoors, I normally have to go lie on the grass in the shade of a spindly little tree west of Becker. Now it’s going to bug me every time I walk around West.

The “behind-the-scenes” tour of Rose was also pretty fun. I was really impressed by how clean Rose’s kitchen is. Nearly every restaurant kitchen I’ve seen has been somewhat filthy, so the dining hall’s spotless facilities were pretty stunning.

It was interesting to hear from Professor Blalock about the history behind West Campus housing and efforts by early Cornell administrators to distance itself from institutions like Harvard and Yale that provided education only for rich white protestant men. For example, Ezra Cornell did not want to have dorms on campus because he wanted students to interact with the local community (though there was a women’s dorm for “safety”). I was particularly struck by Prof. Blalock’s story about dorms at Yale that had smaller servant quarters attached to larger bedrooms that modern students now fight over. It makes me appreciate the motto of “any person, any study” a lot more and less ironically.

That said, our tour through the tunnels and the war memorial room was the more exciting part of the event, revealing the “secrets” of Rose House. My favorite part of the tour was hearing Professor Blalock’s stories about the part of the tunnel immediately under the House Professor’s apartment. Apparently the tunnel is a great spot to practice baseball but a terrible place to have discreet conversations, as the lack of sound insulation means everything is audible in his apartment. Other highlights included learning about the Quill and Dagger society and multiple doors screaming their protests at staying open too long.

At risk of sounding a little crazy, I’ll just add this in here- the basement system would work really well as the set to a horror movie/game or murder mystery. Dim the lights, put some grime or blood spatter  on the walls, and add some strategically placed messages and you’ve got quite an chilling atmosphere, complete with cheery and unsuspecting prospective victims milling around obliviously aboveground. If there are any amateur filmmakers here, well, there’s an idea. Be careful though, it may be easier to get down there, but it’s just a bit harder to get out…

Note: there doesn’t seem to be a category for this yet

This week at Rose Cafe Dr.Blalock took us through the tunnel that connects Becker to Rose (there is also one from Keeton to Bethe). We also visited the war memorial room in Lyon Hall. We also learned about Cornell history. One interesting topic that came up was you can get into the tunnels using the elevator but good luck getting out. You can’t call the elevator from the basement apparently which means you have to navigate the tunnels like a rat in a maze to find the exit… except instead of following the scent of cheese you can follow the exit signs. Something interesting I learned about was the Quill and Dagger society which is a secret society that has a room at the top of lyon hall that is only accesible through a secret elevator. I thought it was cool to learn more about Cornell history and the history of West Campus.  I also learned the the reason we have the gates that block gothics way to vehicles is because of Dr.Blalock. So while we aren’t going to get hit by cars you also can’t have the pizza guy drive up to your dorm.