Hi Will. Thanks for the comment and question. The simplest answer is that the vandalism was the result of very poor judgment on a student’s part. That is, the impulse was most likely not related your No. 2 scenario or cause (resentment toward the institution). — Jay Burns, Editor, ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Magazine

1) Simplest: Student gets drunk, kicks off sprinklers or extinguishers. Punishment needs to be calibrated to some level of campus service. This student’s life can be rescued.

2) Deep-seated resentment among growing body of students about some issue. This needs to be researched carefully to find out what the “itch” is about. The destruction could spread to other places. I dealt with both during my time there, 1947-51). Ran into No. 2 as a new freshman rooming with athletes. The negativity being preached was so serious I urged Dean Rowe to consider putting freshmen in separate dorm to disrupt communication of the beef. As a sophomore, I was invited to proctor Parker Hall, which was to become a freshman dorm: “It was your idea, Will. Want to see it through?” While proctoring Parker one of my musical friends got drunk and tipped a fire extinguisher. Freshmen residents pitched in to help me and my now-sobered friend clean up the mess. He stopped drinking as his part of the deal. Parker remained a freshman dorm for about 10 years.

I would really like to know what provoked the Pettigrew vandalism and how you ‘handled’ it because of this background. Does this aberration fester in more than one brain? Thanks if you can share it with me. — Will Barbeau ’51