“Fortunately he was no ordinary egg; they boil them pretty hard over there at Harvard.”
Contrary to wisdom of the old nursery rhyme, I am delighted to inform you that all the king’s horses and all the king’s men—these being defined in modern times as bevies of construction workers of both sexes, dozens of our own hardworking House staff, dutiful denizens of University Hall, and of course our students—together have succeeded in returning life to the old egg. Claverly Hall has risen from a shell to take its place amongst the best student accommodations at Harvard, while our dear Randolph descends under the scaffolding to arise reborn two years hence. Even Apthorp House emerges with a new lease on life, with systems and structural supports completely renewed.
Some of the lesser king’s men—namely yours truly and a number of dedicated volunteers— have also managed to restore parts of the FDR Suite to their former glory after a hold in storage containers for almost two years. The common room is back, the player piano tuned and ready to roll, and most of the almost 2000 objects have been unpacked and returned to their rightful places. The two bedrooms remain closed awaiting restoration, but the refrigerator has been restocked, and that alone promises the best kind of normalcy. Hopefully, we can resume limited in-house programming in the spring, and we expect to welcome the fourth cohort of Roosevelt Scholars to Cambridge this summer.
Meanwhile, student life has adapted remarkably well to the new masked-normal. University COVID testing is ever present, and cases have remained very low. After the strange and eerie silence of the last year, the reassuring whack of the C-entry door and the shouts —albeit a bit mask-muffled—of the students in the halls are gratifyingly welcome. It’s not the innocent levity of pre-COVID days to be sure, but nor is it the deathly silence of the “lost year” as some have taken to calling it. Adams resurgens!
We have a great issue of the Gold Coaster to share with you: a tour of the new Claverly, a peek at our own Santiago Pardo Sanchez’ collection of historic Adams glass plate negatives, a report on the accomplishments of our fantastic Roosevelt Scholars cohort, and a delightful interview with our new Faculty Deans (Masters).
It’s good to be back!
