Emerson Hall
An active community
A place to sleep, socialize and procrastinate on homework: this is Emerson Hall. This building, established in 2001, is one of the newer housing halls. It is home to myself and many other Seattle Pacific University students. Each hall at SPU has its unique qualities and Emerson is no different. Emerson provides a Christian environment to learn and meet others while adding some flare into the lives of the residents that roam its hallways.
When walking into Emerson the first sight to see is the commons full of students relaxing, socializing, or doing homework. There is also a piano which sits in the back corner usually occupied by someone tone deaf or musically gifted. By the elevator, the smell of a mixture between sweat and detergent creeps into the nostrils as both the gym and laundry room sit around the corner. Within Emerson there are five floors, and four of them all female floors. Each floor of the building has its personality and characteristics. The second floor smells of candles and has access to an outdoor patio and a theater room. Floor three, the male floor, reeks of B.O. and has little to no decorations separating it from the rest of the floors. This suggests maybe that either, boys lack creativity or are just too lazy to care. The fourth floor smells like maple syrup and has an overload of decorations on each door. The fifth floor, the penthouse, smells like flowers and has a room full of just couches for the inhabitants to lounge. Boy’s rooms compared to girl’s rooms are like night and day. For the most part, Boy’s rooms give off the vibe as a sleeping chamber with usually a TV. Girl’s rooms are typically emulated to represent home as many photos and lights are hung from about the walls. As a whole the building functions as a beehive with students leaving during the day to class and returning home to rest.
The majority of the buildings at SPU are named after a donor or a special person. I thought Emerson Hall was named after Ralph Waldo Emerson. I was wrong. The street running right in front of the building happens to share the name of Emerson with the Hall, which is no coincidence. There aren’t any big donors or long time SPU faculty members with the name “Emerson.” In fact, the University is still waiting for someone to donate a large sum of money, which means that Emerson could perhaps receive a name change within the future. In an novel by William McIntosh, titled Good Neighbors, an Indian begs in a respectable manner for the white men to show mercy on his kind. Just like this excerpt, Emerson seems to be politely asking for help but can survive without it. Having a meaningful name would be beneficial to the building. Emerson’s unique qualities make it deserving of a donor.
The floor I live on is 3rd West. I learned that the wing had a nickname recently revoked: “Brohoe.” Brohoe’s past traditions make it unique. Other wings on other floors all have had their traditions, but not nearly to the extent or dedication of 3rd West. 3rd Central used to give an honorary shield to both its room advisor and its student ministry coordinator, which is cool but weak. The only other tradition that compares to Brohoe is the Orangemen. The Orangemen is an all male floor at Ashton Hall. Each resident of the hall is given an orange jumpsuit to wear to basketball games. These jumpsuits have never been washed, and have the names of their former owners written about all over them. This group’s job is to come to each and every home basketball game and heckle the other team. Last year, the Orangemen printed out multiple cardboard cutouts of a player on the opposing team’s girlfriend with different SPU basketball players arms around her. Our room advisor decided to take a new route this year and break free from Brohoe traditions, meaning Brohoe is a thing of the past. Now that Brohoe is gone, the Orangemen have the pressure of keeping their tradition alive.
Established in 2002, Brohoe was a brotherhood which required initiation. During initiation, the new residents of the 3rd West were taken to Golden Gardens and forced to skinny dip at midnight. After this, they were shown the contents of “the box”. The box was the prized possession of Brohoe. I was able to discover that the box contained a few items including pink panties which were to be worn if anyone told someone outside of the brotherhood what was in the box. The box was heavily guarded but was somehow stolen a lot from Brohoe. This back and forth game of stealing and regaining possession of the box added to the fun that the floor was experienced.
After this first quarter, I noticed a lot about Emerson. Special activities are held in the Commons weekly. The high ceilings and big windows make it a perfect area for gatherings. I also noticed that 3rd West, my floor, seems to have the most traffic of people. The ping pong room is booming on the weekends, and plenty of study groups gather to work in the study lounges on the wing during the weekdays. This makes it a great place for socializing, but awful for trying to get anything done. Those wanting to study or complete a project usually resort to walking to the library. However, the pros easily outweigh the cons of living in the Emerson environment.
When I first arrived and told fellow students, I lived on Emerson 3rd West I would receive funny looks. At first, I disregarded them, assuming that they had no idea where the location of Emerson was. I then consulted with my room advisor about why this might be happening. I found out that a few residents in the previous year had gotten in trouble for poor conduct. This year is the first year without the name Brohoe to start fresh and build new traditions. That means, yes, the box is gone.
When asking for information on Emerson to the University Archivist, I received little. This wasn’t because she didn’t know about the past of the building, it was because it didn’t have much of a past at all. It is a nice building, sure, but it lacks the character of Ashton or the innovative technology like displayed in Arnett. However, I like it that way. It has a homey vibe and encourages interactions with other students, due to the lack of accessories.
I am very thankful for Emerson Hall. It’s my home now, and its quirkiness is rubbing off on me. God has blessed SPU with a special learning environment and Emerson a piece of the pie in making it unique. After one-quarter of living inside its walls, I am already blessed with a multitude of both good and bad memories. It will be interesting to see what happens for the remainder of the year and see what I can do to contribute to Emerson Hall’s history.
