Well, there it is: Trumbull House, Towers Quadrangle, University of Connecticut, circa 1977. Doesn't look too exciting, does it. I doubt that the architect who designed it won any awards. And yet, many of us have a special place in our hearts for this drab, brick structure. This is the place we called home for at least some of our UConn experience.

Trumbull House wasn't for everyone—there were those who left the dorm as soon as they could and those who saw nothing special about it and who, after a time, opted to move elsewhere. But a lot of us really became attached to the place and the people in it. Though some left to become RAs or to see what living off campus was like, many of those people found themselves coming back to T House to hang out between classes, to work as waiters, or to visit the friends they had made there.

Trumbull House was just one of many dormitories scattered across the UConn campus—what was it about living in Trumbull House that turned groups of complete strangers into a tight-knit "family"? I addressed this issue in an e-mail that I sent to Toby O'Brien following the 1999 reunion:

Trumbull House was unique. It was different from your other run-of-the-mill dorms in at least four ways: (1) we had comfortable, funky, easy-to-relax-in furniture [through spring 1977 anyway]; (2) it was a fun place (ping pong, TV, stereo, card table); (3) we had Big John [not long enough]; and (4) we had the Trumbull House Cheer. People from other dorms never seemed to feel very strongly about their ho-hum residences. We always had something of a "superior" attitude. I think the feeling that we lived somewhere special helped unite us all—or I could be all wrong and it was simply a case of the right people being thrown together at the right time. Whatever!

Yes, whatever! Let the nostalgia-fest begin!

NOTE: This photo is by Greg Marshall; to my knowledge, he was the only person to take a "portrait" of Trumbull House.