This very summer, the White House will be gone. Demolished. Not the one in D.C., but the little one on campus that is all too often forgotten about. The Oracle covered the story in the January magazine and yet, this did not stop the usual apathy that consumes the campus on such matters. When it comes to the actual campus and the goings-on, students typically excuse their lack of caring with studies and work, but then there are the times when students do something. Lord knows what makes one matter more important than the other.

In the end, the plans are made up about the White House, as we all let this piece of the campus slide under our radar. It was rather ingenious in the way the plans for campus so easily allowed for the White House to be neglected. As buildings like the library stacked around the White House and the Anderson Center was constructed, as well as the bookstore moved to the opposite side of campus, the White House has stood alone, utterly forgotten. You would expect the building to be engulfed in vines, filled with cobwebs and stalked by a dark and suspect cloud. Instead, the house just sits there in the corner of our eyes; we see it, but we don’t want to. 

All too soon we won’t actually see it; instead the area will be replaced by a beautiful parking lot that will really add to the asphalt feel we’ve been wanting. Turns out when you move the attention of the campus to the opposite side of the White House, buy a house on Summit for the President to live away from students, and refuse to renovate a building with empty excuses, a very important building gets ignored. 

The reasons for the demolition are flimsy at best. We could have gotten easy money for renovations if the building were considered for the historical register. But the history of the building does not fit the criteria. No matter, for if we can fund the Anderson Center and if HUSC can donate $25,000 for a sports court, you’d think we could scrap some cash for some real Hamline history. If we can afford a place on Summit for the President, I think we could have renovated the White House for the President to live in like those who have preceded her. 

However, that would mean that Hanson would actually want to be genuinely involved with students and the campus. It would really take quite a stretch for that image to become a reality. No matter what I write in this column, no matter how snarky, the White House is going down. Yes, some of the pieces of the house will be integrated throughout campus. Is that really what someone does when they want to forget about something? Seems more like the behavior of someone who doesn’t want to keep it in their memories. 

What on earth are these pieces going to fit with? Anderson Center looks like what someone from the 1970s imagined a school looking like IN SPACE! The furniture throughout is completely retro, and not in a good way. The windows are large so we can see the stars and revolving planets. Then there is the giant, grossly bricked Bush Library and the Heights. What on earth was the plan when those were built? A prison? Then there is the lovely Klas Center with the amazing view of Old Main; but since Anderson, the use of that building (aside from athletics) has decreased. So, please, tell me where these pieces will fit in seamlessly. 

The whole campus is being Starbuck-ed and we simply don’t care. We are allowing the school to remove one of the last pieces of character this campus has. Part of what people love about private universities is the look of older buildings. Perhaps there is a bit of pretension, but a bit of pretension hasn’t hurt anyone. This kind of weird prioritization is the exact reason that once I become an alum in the next two weeks, if I donate money to Hamline, it will be for specific things. I won’t simply give money to be allocated by the same people who have left us in the current debt we find ourselves in now. 

Now, a parking lot does seem nice considering the horrid parking we now experience, but parking can be put in other places. But once the White House is gone, it is gone. There won’t be any debate, not like there has been much. The chance to preserve our history will be gone and I for one will be sad to see it crumble.