<p>Who else is going? Drop me an PM if you'd like to meet up on Saturday, Oct.21 (traffic and weather permitting.)</p>
<p>Traffic and weather were perfect. But, I should have tried to make reservations at the Inn@Middletown A LOT earlier (like a month at least.)</p>
<p>As it was, Saturday was a whirlwind of schmoozing, meeting-up, and walking around. A parishioner from back home stopped me as I was actually walking down Church Street. We had talked about meeting up, but it really reminded me of how small the campus was when she was the first person I bumped into, a mere two minutes after I parked my car. She's a P`10 and her daughter afforded me my first look inside Clark since the renovation. The difference is amazing. They took a dark, rather forbidding, fortress and turned it into an airy, mod-ish living space, complete with an elevator for visiting elders.
Next was a reception at Olin Library where I met two CC lurkers, both P`11s. We talked for pretty much the entire hour and half. That is the one thing I notice about "Wesleyan people": no matter where I go, the minute I mention its name, I have an instant connection with someone. The same thing happened when I bumped into some members of my graduating class; even though we were not close friends as undergraduates, something about our time there has bonded us together for life; there wasn't enough time to say all the things we wanted. We wound up exchanging business cards and pledging to stay in touch.</p>
<p>The football loss against Amherst was a disppointment, though our guys were competitive through the first half, IMHO. What kept our spirits up for much of the afternoon, however, was the looming completion of the new Susan Lemberg Usdan student center. It is easily the largest construction project to have been undertaken by Wesleyan in thirty years and it already dominates the central campus. Luckily, it is an attractive building in the post-modern tradition that seems to be popular these days. I could see a lot of references to a muscular, nineteenth century architectural past, but the one that intrigued me the most was this one:
<a href="http://www.ballparkwatch.com/stadiums/past/ebbets_1.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ballparkwatch.com/stadiums/past/ebbets_1.htm</a></p>
<p>The new Film Studies Building which is officially only Phase I of the planned series, is also very, very smartly done. When approached from Washington Street (after rounding Mount Vernon Street) you initially don't recognize it as an academic building, but rather mistake it for someone's home --or tool shed, perhaps -- with a pair of matching gabled roofs that face the street at just about the same set-back as the other homes on the street. It is an ingenious mixture of art and artifice on a domestic scale, in obvious obeisance to its neighbors.</p>
<p>Speaking of neighbors, as the afternoon wore on, I judged that I had just enough time to make a quick swing downtown before heading home to beat the traffic. I'm glad I did. </p>
<p>The difference between the new Main Street and the one I remembered from just a few years ago is striking indeed. Almost all the old storefronts have been razed, much to my disappointment. But, to the town's credit the replacements are not bad. Not bad at all. There is a new police complex that echoes (and, in fact presaged) the Wesleyan student center in that it shares the same turreted, red-brick armory exterior. But, one looks in vain for any sign of police or other municipal emblems; on the first floor at least, they have been replaced by a bar and other commercial space. The new complex takes up an entire city block and there are other similarly appointed malls and storefronts that have brightened up Main Street considerably.</p>
<p>I wish I'd had more time to visit the old O'Rourke's in the North End. I understand progress is underway in restoring the old diner to its former splendor. I also wish I would have stopped in to see Brian himself, esconced temporarily at "Wes Wings" on the corner of High Street and Lawn Avenue. Perhaps, someone else can add that to their itinerary.</p>
<p>Another perspective on Homecoming, from a current student:</p>
<p>We lost our football game 23-0, but I say that if you're going to lose, you may as well lose in style. It didn't stop people from temporary tattooing their faces with Wesleyan spirit, and sidewalk chalking all over the campus the Wesleyan Fight Song (everyone here loves the Fight Song) and over spirited Wes messages.</p>
<p>Also, WesRugby (formerly the Women's Rugby Team) won their away game on Saturday, which was a wonderful exciting end to their season!</p>
<p>In addition, the campus was looking very colourful from mass chalking by students, alum, and parents. The chalking that was put up on Saturday night was not washed away or erased all Sunday. The Wesleyan Argus seemed to create an issue specifically designed to highlight Wesleyan's craziness just in time for Homecoming Weekend and all the parents, with the entire front page concerned with the resurgence of activist reaction to the administration. Read up about it at <a href="http://wesleyanargus.com/index.php?issue_id=143%5B/url%5D">http://wesleyanargus.com/index.php?issue_id=143</a> .</p>