Peabody Hall
By SAMUEL ALTMAN ‘26
One of the best ways to identify whether you’re talking to a true Exonian is to ask them two questions: one, what dorm they’re in and two, what dorm is the best. Should you ever find the answers to those two questions to be opposed, something has gone very wrong. And yet, someone has to be correct — that is, surely there must be a dorm which is truly the best… but, if you were in that dorm, how could you ever convince everyone else that, in fact, you, in spite of all the others, were telling the truth?
Such is the curse of the Peabodians, a people unmatched in location, academics, sports, overall virtue, and more. But for all that we have to offer, no one ever seems to understand that we are the only ones representing the truth when we proclaim that Peabody is the best dorm on campus. Not only that, Peabody seems to be known wide and far for its lackluster amenities, awkward interactions, and general mustiness. A true Peabodian would not deny these allegations but instead understand that Peabody could not be Peabody without them, and that they are not justification to bulldoze us and replace us with a Walmart, as some on Exeter Compliments have suggested. So for your pleasure and information, I will relay the true day-to-day shenanigans of a Peabodian.
First, about what has to be the most complained-about thing within Peabody: water. Peabody has four lead-infested water fountains, one for each floor, each deeply ingrained with rust, which are avoided at all costs by pretty much everyone. Instead, we make use of our trusty 5-liter plastic water filter in the basement, which must be refilled from the sink after every few uses. It is there that so many of our late night conversations occur, as both parties thirstily eye the sink water slowly trickling down the filter. Still, some refuse to participate in such antics altogether, preferring instead to go to sleep parched. The kitchen serves as a bonding space in more ways, though. If you come in at the right time, you just might find anything from baking gourmet pizza to haircuts in-progress to late-night gaming sessions.
Secondly, one can hardly give the full image of Peabody without describing the laundry situation. It is a surprisingly small portion of the dorm who actually use the laundry machines themselves (as opposed to E&R), and yet it makes up for a large portion of our human-to-human interaction. Our laundry room is about the size of a closet, which makes it all the more homey and warm, and there are nearly always forgotten clothes strewn about the machines. It’s not uncommon to have to have to push on someone else’s whole laundry cycle because they leave it sitting for a whole day. Such camaraderie is how we stay so closely bonded together.
Finally, people love to complain about the bathrooms in Peabody. The objection is typically that we have no shower heads at all, and that our water essentially just comes straight out of a couple holes in the wall. Having been a Peabodian for so long myself, it’s difficult for me to imagine it any differently, or what it would be like to have more than five minutes worth of hot water. All I do know is that such circumstances have instilled endurance and perseverance not present in the more spoiled dorms.
Overall, Peabody is all too often cited as the forgotten or most irrelevant (save for Ewald, of course) dorm. But within our walls, there’s nothing but solid community and, occasionally, excitement. Last year, a proctor had to move out of their room because there was a dead animal in the wall. Someone is always singing a show tune on the fourth floor. Around Halloween, we had to call someone to remove a bat from the middle of the hallway. None of us remember the last time we used our dorm chant, or even what it is, and, come to think of it, we like it that way.
