People, this is an incredible opportunity.

Like, seriously.

You know how Faunce is ostensibly the Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center?  Rolls off the tongue like a bad lisp.  I die a little inside every time I see that name in print.  Stephen is so ridiculously invested in making things un-fun to read that he might very well be the man to whom they handed a copy of the Adobe suite and said, “Design the ProJo website.”

The point is, people with millions of dollars are naming our buildings without realizing that built into the process is a potential for batshit insanity.  But never fear, the answer is only a few hundred dollars away.

According to Brown’s “giving page” (one can only assume we are supposed to be the Shel Silverstein of higher ed), it costs a mere $3 million to name an existing building on campus.

$3 million.

Wut.  [Read more →]

Family Weekend is upon us. You should have noticed by now that campus is crawling with middle-aged moms and dads who are here to see you and get a sense of your life at Brown. In order for your parents to do so effectively, they will be infiltrating our social and academic spheres of choice to try to live and understand the Brown Experience. Be advised that parents are everywhere, and that it can be quite entertaining to observe these creatures in their unfamiliar habitat. 

The Top Three Places for Parent Sightings:

1) The Ratty: Upon entry, parents are greeted by the wonderful, angelic BDS hostess with the mostest, Gail. They are hooked on Gail’s unmistakable charm and are reeled in by the long chain of “I”s in the “Hiiiiiiiiiiii” they receive at the door. They proceed to walk around aimlessly as they try to understand the hustle and bustle; the Cajun Chicken Pasta and the epic combination of cereal, ice cream and peanut butter that constitute the Ratty Experience. For maximum entertainment, be sure to observe the confusion and fascination that comes over parents as they observe our fellow students with four plates of food and three glasses of different drinks all balanced on the Ratty’s ugly, yet intriguing trays. It was LMFAO who said “everyday I’m Rattying”, right?  [Read more →]

In case you’re running late to class and don’t have time to wait in the lines at the Blue Room, check out the table right outside the market in lower Faunce where there’s a nice man giving out samples of things like ‘Kashi Go Lean’ and ‘Special K Protein Meal’ bars!

Yay! There is now a Bank of America ATM in the lower level of Faunce!

Gawker, a media news blog, published a post yesterday by blogger Hamilton Nolan about how Ivy League schools are “the world’s worst charity.” Citing a recent $100 million dollar donation by Henry Kravis to the Columbia University Business School, Nolan argues that the large sums of money that go towards augmenting the already ginormous endowments of schools like Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and…er…Brown could be put to better use.   [Read more →]

Faunce House - June 2009

For those of you who have come to this school for the prospect of an “enclave of trustafarians and children of celebrities” who “major in drum circles and semiotics,” you may have skimped on your Brown education.  While academic offerings can teach you about the psychology of making decisions and your daily dosage of sleep (8.4 hours), this new column will give you a taste of the history you walk through every day and, hopefully, a new appreciation for College Hill, past and present.  As President Henry Wriston said,* “no student can walk the paths of the College Green for four years … without learning something from the appearance, something from the atmosphere that its buildings breathe, something from the way history looks down upon him…”

[Read more →]

We spotted you … SpottedAtBrown poster who referred to the Steven Robert ’62 Campus Center in Faunce House as “Steve Bob.”

Sources say some tour guides have also started telling prospective students and parents that kids call the building “SteeRow.”

No. Just no.

Let’s get one thing straight. It’s Faunce. It’s clear, it’s easy to say, it has history.

[Read more →]

The new and improved Faunce is kind of obsess-worthy. The building looks really beautiful and there’s a great amount of comfortable space to do anything from studying to hanging out. The best part of the new Faunce though probably has to be the new Blue Room and all of it’s features.

The Blue Room now stays open until 9 pm, and you can use meal credits after 4 pm. For dinner, there’s sushi from Shanghai and dishes from Kabob and Curry. Let’s repeat that: you can use meal credits to get restaurant sushi and Indian food. In the morning, there are fresh bagels from Bagel Gourmet, which you can buy as always with points and declining balance. The focaccia sandwiches are delicious, and there’s a yogurt parfait station. The couches are comfortable, as are the booths. Also, it’s air conditioned, which is enough to make the Blue Room a sanctuary in this heat.

Plus, even President Simmons loves it: she was just spotted talking with people and enjoying lunch.

The Stephen Robert ’62 Campus Center at Faunce House Facebook page now shows (relatively) newly posted photos of the inside of the renovated facilities — the new Blue Room, Campus Market, arch views, etc.

Students won’t descend on College Hill for another week or so, but now we can all start scouting out the fastest route to our morning coffees and muffins and afternoon panini (which we’d love to pay for with meal credits, hint hint).

The last item in today’s Morning Mail quietly announced the beginning of service in the newly renovated Blue Room in Faunce!! Monday, August 16th!! Did we mention we’re excited?

Any devotee will surely be eager to stop by and relish the return of the Blue Room to its rightful location.

If you’re within Blue Room range, send us your comments, discoveries, impressions, and/or pictures – for all those not fortunate enough to be in Providence for opening day.

Happy muffin buying!