As members of the Class of 2000 listen to tales of the cramped conditions on campus and sacrifices endured by Jim and Katie, they get a bit sheepish, almost ashamed of the plenty of today. Dana Boyd marvels at the differences between how Jim and Rosemary Blakesley lived and the conveniences in the newest Purdue residence hall, Hillenbrand. She lived in Hillenbrand two of her four years at Purdue. It's all right there for you. Of course, the modern conveniences go well beyond the residence hall room.
Halls offer various choices for all meals, and students can eat where they please, when they please.
Not so 50 years ago. We sat down together at the residence halls, fraternity houses, the Union or boarding houses. Katie recalls formality at meals, even lunch, with candelabras lighted at the sorority house table, a prayer before each meal. No one was seated until the housemother directed her to sit. Adam recalls that even the togetherness of living in the residence halls wasn't the same as the way of life for Katie and Jim.