Everything old is new again

I visited Behrend last night and saw some friends that I haven't seen since I graduated. One of them is a senior this year, and the other two are a couple that graduated a year ahead of me and were back to visit from Philadelphia. They also got engaged approximately 5 minutes before I pulled up (he wanted to propose at the exact place they met, so cute), so it was an exciting night.

I saw the new Dobbins from the outside. On March 1st, 2010 at about midnight, Dobbins Dining Hall looked like this:
In case you couldn't tell from the picture, it's ON FIRE. And epically so. Nobody thought there would even be a structure standing by the time they put it out. The entire student body (or at least the ones who lived either on campus or within a few miles) stood outside in the snow for 2 hours watching as firemen tried to control this blaze, listening to the glass in the windows shatter, wondering where they were going to eat the next morning, and hoping that somebody would cancel classes because of this insane turmoil (they didn't). It was a memorable day in Behrend's history. My roommates and I watched from our bedroom windows.

Here's what it looked like the next morning. Many thought that it was a miracle that the building was still standing. But you can see how devastated it was:

They were in the process of expanding and renovating the whole building it when this fire took place, and many were skeptical that it would be open in time for the students in the fall after the fire. I must say, they did a pretty good job. Last night it looked BEAUTIFUL. I wish I could have gone inside. This is what it currently looks like:


Since I left (it's been barely 4 months) they have changed so many things. In addition to finishing the Dobbins renovations with flying colors, they have:

1. Changed the name of the REDC. It is now the JBREDC, which is much harder to say (Jack Burke Research and Economic Development Center... in honor of our chancellor who just retired, which brings me to number 2).
2. Gotten a new chancellor. His name is Birx. The old one was Burke. If you say it out loud, it's almost exactly the same name. Hehe.
3. Finished building and started using a new Alumni Relations building.
4. Completely renovated Reed 117 from an ugly lecture hall with uncomfortable orange chairs to a beautiful theatre-style seating arrangement. The room is now solely for the use of clubs and organizations on campus, no classes will be held there anymore. Which to me is bizarre, since it was also the second largest classroom on campus. Maybe they'll have to cut down on class sizes, or something.
5. Started building a new convenience store in the bottom of the Reed Union Building, scheduled to open in Spring of '11.
6. Added computers and a printer to the cafe in the REDC (or JBREDC, whatever).
7. Continued renovations on the Science Building labs (mostly removing asbestos, but also renovating the lab rooms so they're no longer 100 years old).

So ridiculous! There weren't that many changes in the 4 total years I was a student! Although they were recovering from spending lots of money on the then brand-spankin-new REDC, so I guess that's excusable.

But it is almost a different place. And yet last night, it still felt like home