ROCKEFELLER
Page eight
RHOADS
“TROM the Halls of Rockefeller to the arch of Pembroke
West”’—brilliant lyrics from our Freshmen Show adapted
to the Marine Hymn—could be heard any evening ringing
from any one of the dining room windows on Bryn Mawr
Campus. At the slightest provocation we sent forth our
voices in song, chanting the praises of Sunday morning
breakfast, ice cream, or the good “Spirit of the Red”. The
halls of residence were not just places where we hung our
hats. Rhoads, Rockefeller, Merion, Denbigh, the Pembrokes,
Radnor—each had its own distinctive personality.
Pembroke owned the Arch where on many a warm rainy
night we collected with our little red books and our song
mistress and sang the college glees. Other times we crowded
together on the Pem stairs, some superstitiously, with the
orals on the morrow; some remembering with utter relief
that they had passed. Denbigh vied with Pembroke in its
musical prowess, but the atmosphere was different as we sat
on its stairs after dinner with demitasses in hand and tried to
master the fine art of “Shall I Wasting” in four elusive parts.
Those of us who were not bilingual got our opportunity
to visit the language houses only when accompanied by an
adult member of their exclusive retinue. We were always
much impressed, if not a bit awed, by the fact that “ici on
parle toujours francais ou espanol ou deutsch” at bridge and
all other times during meals, coffee, or just polite social chit-
chat. We tried our best to get absorbed in the continental
atmosphere, but we must admit that we felt keenly our cul-
tural deficiencies. We admired, however, our versatile con-
temporaries.
Speaking of admiration, we can’t forget Rockefeller. The
Rock smoking rooms were filled with academics, who were,
nevertheless, always ready to have a gay old time. There
was an old world atmosphere about Rock. It wouldn’t have
surprised us to see a flaming boar’s head or a cup of mead
come in at meal time amidst a festive throng. In the same
vein their Christmas plays were the envy of the campus.