Spring break in full swing

Last fall visitors to the quads’ northwestern nook may have noticed an unusual new fixture outside Hitchcock Hall. The freestanding swing, crowned with the house motto, deformis sed utiles (“deformed but useful”), was built with funds from Hitchcock’s endowment to commemorate the dorm’s centennial, celebrated in 2001. Designed by Charles Friedlander and Fred Sickler to incorporate details from the building’s architecture, the bench is flanked by two armadillos, Hitchcock’s beloved mascot.

Recently the Magazine staff noticed that the armadillo bench has disappeared (our sleuth reporting, unfortunately undertaken during spring break, when even resident heads ditch campus, didn’t uncover why). A humbler quads bench currently occupies the seat of honor, but a simpler swing has sprung up in Hitchcock’s front yard just in time for spring.

A.L.M.

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Photos (from left to right): The armadillo bench, installed last fall. Photo by Dan Dry. The armadillo is gone, replaced by a regular quads bench. Photo by Amber Mason. A new tire swing hangs outside Hitchcock Hall. Photo by Amber Mason.

March 22, 2004