I’d like to begin by saying I am very pro-renovating the Holland Union Building (HUB). I think the central goal, increasing the quality of student life, is admirable. I agree that the “comfort, accessibility and convenience” goals are all very important and should be prioritized.

That being said, I have thoughts. 

Come spring, I will be walking at Commencement, and I had planned on walking all the way to Britton Plaza and taking a picture popping a bottle of champagne on the seal. 

However, last I heard, the HUB renovations of Britton Plaza will involve closing off the area during senior week and commencement. I think the idea of making Britton and the HUB accessible is very important and I am all here for it. But denying seniors this classic Dickinson experience is unfair.

Thus, I have a solution. As Britton is renovated, please remove the seal and put it somewhere (inside the HUB, the academic quad, I don’t actually care), so the seniors can take our pictures and have the fulfilling experience of stepping over it.

This tradition may seem trivial, but to myself and several other seniors graduating in May, it represents more than just the end of our time at Dickinson. It represents the changes coming in the future. As current students, we won’t benefit from the renovations happening now and in the coming years. We will return to Dickinson for alumni weekends or class reunions, but it won’t look the same, it won’t be the same place we have spent our undergraduate years. 

Stepping on the seal after commencement is more meaningful than simply scratching the itch and getting to do something that tradition dictates we don’t get to do as students. It represents the end of this era of our lives and our status as the last graduating class to experience the HUB as it currently is.