They Tore Down Wherle Hall

I was sent a video clip of an excavator tearing into the side of Wherle Hall on the Gannon University Campus and my mind did that little trick it does.

Suddenly.

It was a late August night in 1982, and I was the petrified 17-year old boy in the top bunk of a room in Wherle Hall.

Thinking:

“I want my Mommy.”

Yeah. I was scared and I thought my roommates were weird (they were).

I didn’t have any friends on campus and only knew one guy - Chris Miller - who went to the rival high school.

I didn’t like him, and he had given me the finger in the dinner line just hours before.

I had no clue that as I stayed in the bed that night, on the verge of tears, that in a mere 24 hours I would meet a half dozen guys who would remain great friends (including Chris) for the next however long I’m here.

Gag and I played thousands of games of backgammon in Wherle Hall.

I was one of the only guys who had a high enough GPA to escape the dreaded curfew - so I made a lot of runs to Mickey D’s.

We played Pass-Out.

Nearly avoided a suspension for throwing a half-keg out of a second floor window just before the RA got to us - thanks Weasel.

I woke up to “The Boys Are Back in Town” every Friday for months.

Laughed, cried, entertained young ladies, was ignored by young ladies, drank, ate Dorito and dip.

So many memories flooded my brain.

Everything breaks down.

Wherle Hall broke down before I did.

But it was close!