How it feels to be kicked out of Walsh: A current resident’s perspective

The building where I live was built in 1909, which has earned it a spot on the National Registry of Historic Places. Do you know what that means?

That means the ghosts have had over a hundred years to populate the building, which is more than ample time for an infestation to develop. It seems highly likely that the random clanging that comes from my pipes in the middle of the night has paranormal origins. Then there was that time the ceiling caved in over a first floor quint’s bathroom last year. That was surely the work of demonic spirits. And the bats that used to periodically escape from the attic and roam the hallways seem to be further evidence that Walsh is more of a haunted house than a home, right?

For me and I’m sure many of my fellow Walsh residents, these “mishaps” (if you’re too boring to subscribe to the ghost theory) merely make the experience of living in a college dorm more exciting.

The sight of an NDSP officer walking through the hallway with a giant net or a tennis racket on a bat hunt gives you a nice little boost of adrenaline (re: fear) to start your day. During holidays you actually have something interesting to offer when your uncle asks you how you like your dorm, and watching people’s faces dissolve into horror and maybe just a little admiration as they realize you’re basically an action hero makes you feel pretty cool.

Regardless of whatever satisfaction my only slightly exaggerated tales of fighting bats and avoiding falling ceilings affords me, I am willing to concede that perhaps Walsh is (over)due for a renovation.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t shocked when my friend dropped this bomb on me in the middle of a perfectly pleasant conversation about bowling.

To be completely honest I just assumed she was drunk and confused, as one’s friends often are after 8pm on a Thursday night, so I disregarded it.

But then I checked my email.

I had to reread it a few times before it really sunk in that my drunk friend’s questionable announcement was actually true.

The thing that annoyed me the most about it was the language. They “anticipate.” They are “delighted.”

Shut up, administration or Office of Housing or whatever faceless authority figure composed this artificially positive email. Nobody will be happy about this, and do you know why? Because YOU have gone to so much effort to make sure our dorms are essential to our identities and social lives as students at this university.

And then you go and just pull the rug out from underneath us with this incredibly sudden change.

Not cool, faceless authority.

That being said, I am only kind of a drama queen, so I am aware that this is not the end of the world. I was mostly just annoyed about it in principle.

The idea that this whole plan was in the works for years and they didn’t deign to release that information to the students it affects until the very last minute seems almost rude to me. Like they didn’t think we could take it.

Which to be fair, some of us couldn’t. Tears were shed over what, to some, felt like a tragic and monumental life change, and our dorm Facebook page was filled with messages of solidarity:

Some even more, let’s say, impassioned members of the community commenced with calls to arms:

While I don’t think violence or tears or corny Disney Channel movies from our childhood is the answer in this situation, I do understand where the grief is coming from.

We were told that Walsh was our home, bats and all, and then it just got ripped away from us without warning. All because it’s “old” and “gross” and “kind of unsafe.”

But when you get down to it, home is where the heart is and all that shit. Yeah, we’re losing our building for a year, but we’re not losing our friendships or our traditions or our ability to make cookies and hold hands and sing the alma mater while Irish step dancing or whatever makes you feel at home under the dome.

So to my fellow WILD women, those who will be returning to Walsh once it’s done receiving its makeover and those who aren’t, it’s going to be okay, because while you can kick us out of Walsh, you can’t kick us out of our community or our dorm ghosts will haunt you, bitch.