Dining Hall OpEd
By: Andy Horrigan
From what was once a routine daily activity to what now feels like a dream, some of my fondest memories at Exeter took place sitting at the long skinny tables of the Elm St. Dining hall. At 7:30 a.m. each cold winter morning I would walk into the left side of Elm—my hair ruffled, my eyes bloodshot and my voice too groggy to speak. Once I got my breakfast, I took a seat at the far end of a long table near the middle of the room, the Cilley table. Though I wasn’t particularly close to many of my proctors, they always made one thing clear: I and any other member of the dorm always had a seat at that table. Always arriving before me, I could expect that the ever optimistic Tabor Rodriguez would be sitting there. Through the brief 20 minute meals that we shared every day that winter, his smile and attitude gave me the boost I needed to walk out of the Elm door and make the trek across campus through the piercing winds and the paths covered in black ice. At lunchtime, I have memories in Elm of packing that same table with as many people as possible, “benching” so we could fit everybody in. As cliche as it sounds, the Cilley table was where I met and developed relationships with so many people in my dorm, and when the winter was dragging it gave me something to look forward to. It made me feel like a part of the dorm.
Those who stepped foot onto campus for the first time last year weren’t fortunate enough to build those strong bonds and make the connections the way we were able to. On the last night before we left campus last year, a prep told me how he had felt disconnected from the dorm—how all the returning students shared a certain bond that he wasn’t able to replicate over the course of the year. Sure, last year we were able to have dorm bonding days like academy life day or dorm versus dorm dodgeball events, but I believe that those types of one-time events only create familiarity between dorm mates. I believe that the bonds that this prep was chasing can only truly be formed in repetitious circumstances, the ones that can be made at D-hall. These new students were never told on day one that they always had a table to sit at in D-hall; they never got to spend nights talking with dorm mates at that table until the dining services staff made the closing call.
This year brings some optimism into the walls of Wetherell and Elm. Last year, to say the least, was solitary, for obvious reasons. Elm and Wetherell were fitted with rows of spaced out desks. If you couldn’t get one of the desks that were easily filled up, you were either in the cold or had to go back to your dorm room. Last year I wasn’t personally inclined to stay in D-hall after my meal was finished, in part due to the courtesy of freeing up space, but also because it wasn’t an ideal place to be. This year brings hope for D-hall with the return of tables big enough for four students. Though these may not be the 20 person tables we remember, these tables are promising and will hopefully allow for what will feel like a more genuine connection. Hopefully, the more intimate setting provided by the small tables will cause people to linger in D-hall, develop their conversations and make up for the memories that we missed last year.
Although the Cilley table may not be back for months to come I find solace in the leaps being made to improve our lives. This year offers the opportunity to catch up on the things last year lacked; it gives us the chance to rebuild dorm cultures, to regrow the out of grade relationships that make schools like Exeter so special. Even though we are only allowed four people per table, I encourage you to make those seats count. Especially in the opening weeks of the school year, it is more important than ever to help newer students as they transition into Exeter. Invite newer students to come sit with you—try to reaffirm and establish connections with newer students just like the upperclassmen did for you.
