Washburn Hall was a home away from home for me for 14 years—three years as a student, seven years as a hall superintendent, and four years as warden. The year was 1960 when I joined American College as a mathematics major and was assigned to Washburn Hall as a resident. I was thrilled to become a Washburnite. The Washburn Hall building looked rugged but majestic and beautiful. The red bricks made the building look bold and proud. I lived there for three years until I graduated and loved every minute of my stay. Professor B. Gunaraj, affectionately called B.G., was the warden for Washburn Hall. In those years, ragging–an event in which seniors harmlessly teased first-year students—was prevalent in hostels. I remember in my first year, as part of the ragging ritual, Washburn Hall seniors asked Warden B.G. to be dunked in a small water tank inside the Hall at the south-east quadrangle. He obliged. What a sight it was to see a well-respected senior professor and warden dunked into a pool of water by students! He was a good sport. It was a lovely event, emblematic of the character of Washburn Hall: bold, respectful, disciplined, freedom- and fun-loving.
Most of the rooms were four-person rooms with no cots, no fans, no special amenities. We all slept on the floors. Bathrooms and latrines were in a separate building, not connected to the main building. Even in the midnight, one has to go out of the residence hall to relieve oneself. Many students found other creative ways to do it. The hostel mess was run on a dividing system and it was managed by elected student representatives. Following the College guidelines, the warden monitored the menu closely to control the cost so the poor parents will be able to afford. There was lot of fun and frolic at Garden parties and hostel-day celebrations. The Washburnites knew how to party and they did so with pomp and splendor.
We came from many parts of the state (a small but a significant student population came from Ceylon, now known as Sri Lanka) with different socio-economic background, belonging to different castes, different religions, and different political ideologies yet we learnt to live harmoniously, tolerant of different views. The Hall built us character. It produced many campus leaders. At time of student crisis, it is the Washburn Hall that provided leadership to the whole student body including day-students. It was a multi-dimensional village where we lived as brothers. The Hall taught us what the textbooks did not teach us in the classrooms. My academic journey in American College would not have been complete without my Washburn Hall life.
I went to Madura College for my master’s degree as American College did not have a master’s programme in mathematics then. I returned to American College in 1965, joining the mathematics department faculty as Tutor in Mathematics, and began my 7-year stint as Washburn Hall Superintendent. Then I stepped aside from Washburn Hall to get married. After a two-year break, I returned to Washburn Hall in 1974, this time as Warden. I was there as Warden only for four years as I left for the USA for my Ph.D. programme at George Washington University, Washington, D.C. I was rather sad to leave Washburn Hall, a home away from home, where I have `lived` for 14 years. I was a pure product of Washburn Hall and I don’t know how many can make that claim. This time, I had a fear that my Washburn Hall life is coming to an end. The Hall residents gave me big farewell party. I spoke. I addressed them as Chenkottai chingangal (Red Fort Lions). The applause reverberated through the College and I could hear it even today.
April 2017