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Colgate University students living on 113 Broad St. woke up on Sunday morning to quite the surprise. After the Springfest weekend campus just had, many expected Whitnall Field to be littered with cans or plastic cups. Instead, Whitnall was covered by a crowd of alumni, decked out in Colgate maroon and hoisting signs in the air reading “NIMAM” — or “not in my alma mater.” From noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday (when most migrated to the Colgate Inn for a happy hour), chants of “Keep Whitnall green” echoed up Peter’s Glen and across Broad Street.
According to Colgate’s website, Whitnall is a “common gathering place” on campus for intramural sports, first-year move-in and homecoming. Class of ’94 graduate Robert McGuire organized the NIMAM group through his class’s Facebook group after reading recent Maroon-News coverage on planned campus construction that included building sophomore housing options on the area near Whitnall Field.
McGuire commented on what inspired him to start the group.
“All my best memories at Colgate happened at Whitnall field,” McGuire said. “Hanging out with my best friends from my fraternity, kicking around a hacky sack or cracking open our textbooks in the sun. Students need a space to socialize — where will they go if not Whitnall?”
McGuire’s former classmate Meghan Kingston ’95 was one of the first to join the NIMAM Facebook page. Kingston posted many photos of her time on Whitnall, sunbathing with sorority sisters or organizing philanthropy events, and helped organize the protest.
“It’s not the housing I object to, it’s the location. Why there? I think the spot right behind Andrews is a better idea — sure, it’s a massive hill, but it’s close to the quad,” Kingston said.
McGuire, who majored in economics at Colgate, offered some other issues he saw with the proposed student housing developments.
“Think of what this does to the value of a Colgate education,” McGuire said. “The costs of losing this precious green space for students to gather at do not outweigh the benefits of having sophomores live together. Property values across Broad Street will drop dramatically if this project continues.”
After hearing about the protest, Marooned! reached out to current students to hear what Whitnall Field means to them. Senior Theo Murphy shared his thoughts.
“I played one intramural softball game there, and we won, so that’s a good memory,” Murphy said. “Besides that, I guess there was the time I helped with move-in? But my back was sore for a week after that, so I don’t know if it really represents my Colgate experience.”
Marooned! also asked for Murphy’s thoughts on whether a dorm should go on Whitnall or not, which he was more hesitant to respond to.
“I don’t know if I have an opinion on that,” Murphy said. “What I do know is I don’t have a job lined up yet, and I’m trying to leverage that alumni network. Hey — is this going online?”
The University provided no comment in response to the NIMAM protests. Marooned! received reports that the group may try to merge efforts with the parents’ Facebook group for more leverage, a situation we will continue monitoring closely.
