THE NEW REC ROOM
Blank and repurposed, frustration has arose around the Senior Rec Room Kyle Berlage
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s Jeffrey Wang (‘21) watched the rec room be taken away for his senior year he couldn’t help feeling disappointed by his inability to use the space. While he understands the need to repurpose the rec room for socially-distant food distribution, he explained “it is somewhat frustrating... to see the room barely be used.” Whitney Hejmanowski (‘21) affirmed this point: “I think the senior class has been justifiably upset about losing the rec room,” she said. As a number of student questions about the use of the space in the future begin to loom, floats to the surface: what will be the future of the senior rec room, exactly, and what have the reactions to this closure been? The senior rec room used to be a communal space for members of the senior class to socialize exclusively with each other. Located at the bottom of Scripps Hall, it contained loudspeakers, sofas, and ping-pong tables. Tradition in the school is to paint the room with various designs of the senior class color. Right now, though, the senior rec room “is being used as one of our food service stations to serve food while maintaining social distancing during lunch and Milk Break,” according to math teacher and Senior Class sponsor Mr. Dana Pierce. The senior rec room currently serves as one of the places where you can get pre-packaged lunches. Mr. Pierce said that Food Services will maintain its claim over the room. “As we bring more students on campus at the same time, [distributing lunch] will be an even more important function for the rec room,” he explained. “Since we are still adjusting to having students on campus and increasing those numbers, the rec room will continue to be used for foodservice in the foreseeable future.” Director of Food Services, Ms. Sara Sweet furthered that, by saying, “As we begin to increase headcount on campus, it is essential that we have two or three food hubs on campus and the rec room is a critical part of that plan.” Some students are frustrated with this course of action. “New floors and stark white paint on the once colorful walls make me think the administration has closed this room as a student hangout indefinitely,” Whitney said. Painting the room with the
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senior class color has been an important tradition. “Getting to paint the senior rec room is such an important demonstration of class spirit, and it’s so unfortunate that the senior class hasn’t gotten that opportunity this year. After 7 years at Bishop’s, I feel like I haven’t gotten to leave my mark on campus. Painting the rec room is a way for seniors to not only express their individuality but leave a physical representation of the time they’ve spent at Bishop’s. The rec room is a source of pride and a reminder of our accomplishments. Although I think we’ve all come to terms with the loss of the rec room, it’s still sad as getting to show off our
This student disappointment has not gone unnoticed, though, as Mr. Pierce has acknowledged the frustrations this change poses on students. “Well, of course, [the seniors] have been very disappointed. Some of them have been looking forward to having the rec room for six years,” explained Mr. Pierce. “Realistically, given the actual usefulness of the room under social distancing, I think the rec room is more a symbol of what this class has had to give up than it would be a fun space right now if it was available.” Mr. Pierce also shared his views on the practicality of a different space for the seniors, saying, “With social distancing, a space to accommodate 140 seniors
“Taking it away is like taking away a tradition.” - Haha Shi (‘22) class colors is something I’ve been looking forward to since 6th grade,” she elaborated. Whitney concluded by saying, “Losing this senior privilege is a huge loss… Once we return to campus and have the ability to socialize in some capacity, the rec room should be returned immediately to the seniors.” Jeffrey elaborated on his point about the room not being used by saying, “I think that such an important space shouldn’t be marginalized to serving 60 people food twice a day—something that could easily be achieved in the other spaces that we have.” Members of the junior class have also become worried about their future chances of using the room with its original purpose. “I do think that it’s pretty important [to have the room as seniors] because I’ve been here since sixth grade and it’s something I’ve been looking forward to,” said Haha Shi (‘22). “Taking it away is like taking away a tradition.” Although, some juniors believe that the rec room is more useful as a food hub in the current moment. “While I have always looked forward to having the rec room for next year, I don’t think it’s a necessary part of senior year if it’s being used for more important things,” said Mira Gowda (‘22)
would be massive—whatever we do it will be more of a gesture of respect for what they have given up rather than a truly meaningful space for a large number of students to use at the same time,” he explained. “If the seniors had the rec room right now, only a small fraction of the class could have used it at any one time because of social distancing and managing the direction of traffic flow,” he elaborated. Because of social distancing requirements and the usefulness of the space, it doesn’t appear that the senior rec room will return to the students soon. The only remnant of the once colorful room is the orange bench outside. The only thing that those wishing for a reclamation of the room is to wait, but that won’t stop some disappointment from seniors that they don’t have the opportunity to socialize in the room that has traditionally been available to almost every grade-previous.
