Campus stroll brings back memories
I needed a photograph of the KU campus to remind me of its beauty. But no camera shutter could capture it.
But mv eyes could.
Graduation was sneaking up on me. The days seemed to melt away before my eyes, and the closer they got to the red circle on my calendar, the faster they seemed to end.
And so I took one last walk through campus. It would be a time to stroll through the wonder that is the University and reflect on what each landmark meant to me.
And it would be a time to say goodbye.
The start of my journey took me to Allen Field House. Trees that are just beginning to bloom cover the front doorway.
The doorway of memories.
If you listen closely,you might be able to hear crowd roars still echoing through the rafters.
Such as the roars that shook the field house when I was a freshman and a member of the KU Basketball Band. I remember a night in March when I charged through the side entrance and ran out to the center of the hardwood floor, where I was greeted by ear-splitting cheers. The Jayhawks had just beaten Arkansas to earn their ticket to the Final Four, and the field house was the
core of the University's celebration.
I snap out of my daze, and I walk up a sidewalk leading to Murphy Hall. I walk to a picnic area. I notice a little area of dirt enclosed by bricks. It seems to be useless, but when I look over the bricks I notice a batch of small, purple flowers.
That's Murphy. An ugly building on the outside, but the inside is magical. Musical notes serenade passers-by, which give them an idea of the talent enclosed inside the building. I spent almost four years as a musician there, giving up this last semester to my dedication to this newspaper. I pause just before I enter the doorway for the last time. With the hundreds of hours I spent as a musician in that building, my last moments inside were spent as a student in need of a shortcut. Pure irony.
I walk up the sidewalk, and it leads to the back of Anschutz Science Library. I walk up to the upper deck and take a look around. Some yellow buttercups catch my attention, housed in a new flower bed about 10 feet from the library's side entrance. My heart is uplifted, but as I turn and look to my left, it quickly sinks.
Ah, Hoch Auditorium's battered back side. A once-proud auditorium that was gutted by fire, its healing has been a painfully slow process. Promises and plans have been made to fix it, only to have them get clogged up in red tape. Maybe someday it will be fixed. Until then, Hoch is only an eyesore.
A long flight of stairs brings me to Jayhawk Boulevard. Those stairs have left many a student out of breath. But what other university campus offers you a workout program while you walk to class?
The Boulevard, the University's main street, is a great place to watch the lifeblood of campus — student activity. I walk down the street, and it leads me to Wescoe Beach, home of the lunch eater, the class ditcher, the sun tanner and the lazy loafer. I've played all these roles at one point in my time as a student.
The Beach was the outlet for student discontent, as many political activist groups put booths up. Others went solo, preferring to yell at students while they walked by. I loved it.
I was tired of school buildings, and it was too cold to jump in the Chi Omega Fountain, so I headed down a steep, grassy hill until I reached Potter Lake. I've played many games of frisbee here, and I even brought my dog, Sparky, up from Kansas City one weekend so he could run around this spacious park.
But dogs aren't the only wildlife around. I watch as two robins play hop-tag. One bird hopped to close the few yards in between them, and the other robin hopped ahead of it at the last second.
When the robins fly off, I walk up the long hill leading to the Campanile. I walk into the tower, and a list of golden names housed by black stone sets a somber tone to the tower. Any voice that is spoken echoes through it and hauntingly fades away.
I walk through the doorway and sit on a stone bench, placed at the very top of the hill, giving me a great look at Memorial Stadium. The stadium is best viewed at night, when the Campanile glows, lighting up the hill and shading the stadium in a pale, yellow light.
It's cold now, which is appropriate because it was bitterly cold on that day during my sophomore year when running back Tony Sands shattered the NCAA record for yards rushed in a game. Sands' game and Kansas' victory against Oklahoma last year will stay with me long after I leave.
And the hill has its own landmarks, with Day On The Hill and the Kansas—K-State games. Of course, the thousands of people who were on the hill that day my freshman year weren't there my junior year. Metal bleachers that were placed behind the south end zone and a pesky city ordinance that banned drinking on the hill quickly killed its popularity.
My tour is now over, and I begin to head back to my car. While driving away, I thought about what had changed since I was a freshman: Hoch Auditorium, the science library's opening, the Snow Hall walkway and the renovated Kansas Union.
My brother, Brian, will have to make his own memories on this seemingly new campus in the fall. He is transferring from Colorado State University. Be nice to him.
Those changes made me realize how much I've changed, as well. I came to the University with a goal and little else. I will leave with experiences that have made me grow up.
The University has helped me evolve as a person. I know that it will help Brian evolve, as well. The campus has evolved right along with me. I know that the campus will evolve with Brian.
And I'd like to think that what I will leave behind will help both of them evolve even more.
NOW, LTD
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4
Love, Your Delta Gamma Sisters
GRADUATION • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • May 2,1994