Word: quaded
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Currier House residents who battled their way home to the Quad during last Friday night’s snow expecting warmth and shelter instead faced the foul odor of a sewage leak. On Friday afternoon, one of the House’s primary draining pumps shut down, causing a build-up of pressure that burst a sewage pipe in the House’s Lower Main hallway. Since the hall links all resident towers to the dining hall and to the House’s main entrance, the sewage puddle cut residents of Daniels Tower off from their rooms...
...question arises: why is the Quad so stigmatized at Harvard? Is it simply the far-off location, or does the Quad reveal something about the deep insecurities of Harvard house life in general? It is time, my fellow students, to develop a cohesive Theory of the Quad...
...does this relate to Harvard? Well, clearly, the Quad represents the Other in our midst. When one is Quadded they are declared to be different from the norm that is the river—one never hears of being “riverred.” By making the Quad into the Other, river house residents project their own insecurities about house life onto it. For example: “My house is made up of rat-infested walk-through doubles and has no sense of community, but at least it’s not in the Quad...
...Quad as Other is not restricted to devaluation. River house residents also elevate the Quad into an unrealizable ideal, and mythologize it: “The Quad has such great community and such great housing. Can you believe some rooms in the Quad even have kitchens?” Moreover, a sense of mystery develops around this rumored Harvard haven: “I hear Pfoho‘s 90’s Dance is incredible… but where is the Quad again...
Through this idealization, however, the Quad remain as Other—it can never truly develop its own independent sense of individuality. Thus river houses can be known for their unique traditions and quirky characteristics, while the Quad can only be know for its “great rooms and great community...