Keep the 'ever' in Devereux
Tim Gross
Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: Opinion
Every morning, the sun's earliest rays creep across Route 417, infiltrate Bonaventure's east lawn and climb the storied, ivy-covered walls of Devereux Hall. They've done so since 1926.
Dev is old. It's the school's oldest dorm building, and the second-oldest building on campus. It's too hot sometimes, even in single-digit winter weather, and it's too cold when the heat shuts off at 2 in the morning. Legend says it's haunted, and 350 Bonaventure students say it's home from August through May.
In the past 84 years, Dev has been many things to many people, from professional athletes to students to their professors past and present.
But there's one thing it will never be.
Replaceable.
The hints of Dev's old age pass through the building's ancient hallways, along with clanking from old pipes in a dated heating system. They shoot through the thin, peeling walls and shoddy Wi-Fi.
Last week, they landed in The Bona Venture's online edition under the comment section for features assignment editor Emilee Lindner's Jan. 22 feature on Dev's heating problems. One anonymous voice delivered a statement as inevitable as the ivy falling off Dev before a cold, cruel winter.
"Dev has outlived its useful life. Dev needs to be torn down and replaced with a modern state-of-the-art dorm."
The comment in its very nature seems to drown out the Franciscan values this university stands for, especially understanding and humility. Nestled between self-heating Hopkins Hall and the new ornate entrance to the Magnano Centre, Dev's simple appearance and meager amenities add to the building's mystique by contrast.
That mystique grows every time the ivy springs up. It draws prospective students' attention, even more than a "modernized" dormitory - or rather, residence hall - ever could. Every school tries to promote its advances in technology, its contemporary style and its state-of-the-art facilities.
How many can boast a building as endearing and enduring as Devereux Hall, a tangible, physical embodiment of this university's rich tradition?
Dev is old. It's the school's oldest dorm building, and the second-oldest building on campus. It's too hot sometimes, even in single-digit winter weather, and it's too cold when the heat shuts off at 2 in the morning. Legend says it's haunted, and 350 Bonaventure students say it's home from August through May.
In the past 84 years, Dev has been many things to many people, from professional athletes to students to their professors past and present.
But there's one thing it will never be.
Replaceable.
The hints of Dev's old age pass through the building's ancient hallways, along with clanking from old pipes in a dated heating system. They shoot through the thin, peeling walls and shoddy Wi-Fi.
Last week, they landed in The Bona Venture's online edition under the comment section for features assignment editor Emilee Lindner's Jan. 22 feature on Dev's heating problems. One anonymous voice delivered a statement as inevitable as the ivy falling off Dev before a cold, cruel winter.
"Dev has outlived its useful life. Dev needs to be torn down and replaced with a modern state-of-the-art dorm."
The comment in its very nature seems to drown out the Franciscan values this university stands for, especially understanding and humility. Nestled between self-heating Hopkins Hall and the new ornate entrance to the Magnano Centre, Dev's simple appearance and meager amenities add to the building's mystique by contrast.
That mystique grows every time the ivy springs up. It draws prospective students' attention, even more than a "modernized" dormitory - or rather, residence hall - ever could. Every school tries to promote its advances in technology, its contemporary style and its state-of-the-art facilities.
How many can boast a building as endearing and enduring as Devereux Hall, a tangible, physical embodiment of this university's rich tradition?
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
Pete Taylor
posted 2/05/10 @ 7:38 AM EST
To say that Terry Bradshaw stayed in Dev is a real stretch. The Steelers preseason camp is in Latrobe ,PA, and has been for many years. i believe you may have confused him with Johnny Unitas who was in the Steeler camp fpr a short time
Jake S.
posted 2/05/10 @ 11:42 PM EST
To clarify,
Mr. Taylor is quite right. According to the team's official website, the Steelers held training camp at St. Bonaventure from 1952-1957. (Continued…)
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