Franklin & Marshall College

It is difficult for the Class of 2003 to “wow” with details of a past that happened a mere five years ago, however, we can each claim to remember when gas was $1.37 our freshman year, and even more remarkably, when we paid 25-cents for draughts at the Blue Star on Wednesdays.  But after a bit of reminiscing, it doesn’t take long to realize that our College has changed dramatically in the past five years, and that the Class of 2003 will forever share in memories of our idyllic campus years – memories that we, uniquely, possess.

As children of the eighties, we grew up with a certain sense of idealism.  Born during the Reagan years, most of us don’t remember the Iran hostage crisis or the president being shot.  We were five when the Challenger exploded and eight when the Berlin Wall came down.  Our memories focus more on our Ewoks and Wookies, playing with He-Man and She-Ra, dancing to Material Girl, collecting Garbage Paid kids, riding around on our big wheels, and sporting layered socks, friendship bracelets, and multi-colored rubber bands on our braces.

Maybe this idealism is what propelled us toward secretly enjoying Dave Binder, or the PJ parade – despite our pleas of being too cool for school to engage in such activities.  But for the next four years, engage we did.   After Orientation, we began to balance our new lives filled with classes, new friends, sports practice, performances, and decisions on whether to go Greek.  A large number of us began to ponder that visceral need to go pre-med and through our Freshman and Sophomore years, we learned where else our liberal arts education at F & M could lead us. 

During our Freshman year on campus, we saw Hensel Hall transform into the Barshinger Center before our eyes.  We were no strangers to construction sites, as we welcomed the Distler Student Union in 2002, and as we all peeked behind the fences to see the new Roschel Center, which opened the fall of our senior year.  Several members of the class of '03 helped to choose and welcome President Fry as the 14th president of F&M during our Senior year.

Ben's Underground continued to provide comedians, karaoke, video game competitions, student bands (and late night snacks!) for entertainment.  Flapjack Fest got us through exams.  Members of the crew team built a boathouse along the shore of the Susquehanna River in Long Level, PA. We hosted the Indigo Girls, Rusted Root, Vertical Horizon, Live, Guster, Ray Charles, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley.

Despite all of these divergences from the classroom, we learned a great deal about the benefits of hard-work in the hallowed halls of F&M – and we celebrated the rewards of our hard-work at the most hallowed hallway of a bar -  Hildy’s.

The idealism of our youth was shattered in 2001, when the events of September 11th greatly shaded the Fall of our Junior year.  We gathered together in our classes, apartments, houses, eyes glued to the news.  Together, we struggled to find meaning in the tragedy in front of us, and once again turned to our peers for understanding and compassion.  We thanked our Franklin & Marshall education for our ability to listen, discern, and cope with the horrible tragedy that unfolded before our eyes.  We felt thankful to be in a place where diversity within our classes allowed us to celebrate differences and incorporate that ethos into our everyday lives.  These events made us wonder about what was waiting after May 2003. 

Yes, senior year came and went in the blink of an eye.  Our class showed one final time its ability to leave its mark.  Our Senior Surprise was so memorable, in fact, that we hear F&M changed the event to not include alcohol for a few years afterwards (and Lancaster bus companies mysteriously stopped renting their services to F&M).   The memory of that event (although foggy for most) – and the memory of our time together – is not to be topped.  Today, we are comprised of teachers, doctors, lawyers, writers, scientists . . . the list goes on and on and we will thank F&M for where we are in life and for the lifelong friendships we forged that will continue indefinitely.