The white building near the center is the President's Mansion. My dorm was Byrd Hall, which used to stand right behind the mansion (to the left as seen in the photo). This road shows that Byrd Hall has indeed been torn down, though it is still one of the more common real-world locations featured in my dreams. Of course there was no going back, but I hate to see my dorm is gone. I have some good memories from that place (August 1986 -- May 1990).
Between Byrd Hall and the President's Mansion there had been a few oak trees. They are also gone, as can be seen more clearly in this photo.
We used to have "war games" in the spring, which was a competition involving shooting each other with dart guns -- the cheap, spring-powered plastic toys -- outside the dorm. According to a story I was told, a student years before had gotten into trouble by climbing one of the trees at the back of the President's Mansion in order to ambush another player. The problem was that the President of the United States (I think it was Nixon) was staying in the President's Mansion at the time. If there was any truth to the story, it was stupid to be playing that game anywhere NEAR the Secret Service, but the kid was lucky and was scolded, not shot.
Here the President's Mansion is off the left side of the photo (behind the fence), the Rose Administration Building is to the right, and Butler Field used to be straight ahead on the other side of a girl's dorm that was also torn down. Yes, I know the Million Dollar Band still practices on a Butler Field, but it is not the one that was used when I was a freshman. To get to Byrd Hall, I would take a left at the end of this sidewalk.
This is the view facing 180 degrees from the previous photo. At least this view looks just like it did when I was a student.
This is looking across University Boulevard from the base of Denny Chimes back towards the President's Mansion. To me, the mansion looks sort of "naked" without the trees in the back to help frame it. That big patch of empty sky just above it seems wrong.
That's enough for now.
