Until the last year, there was a place on campus where you could enjoy all manner of SMU memorabilia ranging from Southwest Conference political cartoons to historic photographs and advertisements. The Varsity was a mini-museum decorated in dark wood and brass located in the Hughes-Trigg basement until recently.

Sadly, as part of the campus wide construction going on, the Varsity was recently converted from pub-like museum to generic concrete dining hall. The construction stripped away all of the character of this unique room and turned it into something that eerily resembles my high school cafeteria.

I know that construction and improvement are always part of the equation, but I wish that the decision makers would put a little more thought into renovations sometimes. Although I love most of the improvements around campus (I am especially excited for the pedestrian walkway between Lyle and Cox), sometimes they are done for no reason. The Varsity was a very unique place that is now gone forever in favor of a “modern” (and by modern, I mean 1990s) style.

SMU is undoubtedly in a period of change and evolution, but I hope that we can continue to look to the past while creating the future, as they say. There are so many exciting changes coming to campus in the next few years, but I hope that we can keep some of the old too.

The Varsity facelift was sadly one of the least desirable changes I have seen in my time on campus. So far, I have not talked to someone who is happy about the changes. Obviously, my sample is not indicative of the entire student body’s opinion, but I think it provides a pretty good “back of the napkin” calculation.

After talking to several of my friends about the change, I noticed a word coming up often: disappointment. Most of the people I talked to expressed disappointment at the makeover’s results. They liked the old, more intimate Varsity where you could have lunch with friends in a booth or discuss a project together. Now, the room is simply a giant, empty concrete room.

I know that what’s done is done, and the old Varsity is gone forever. I just hope that in the future drastic, unnecessary remodels will be evaluated a bit more closely before construction begins. As the saying goes… “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

Ray is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering.