Commentary

The Truth about Taylor Hall

It is testament to the manipulative power of gossip that Taylor Hall of West Quad South has a poor reputation. Even as you read this article, you are probably reflecting on the awful things you’ve heard about this proud dormitory. It seems that especially among some faculty Taylor has a tarnished reputation. Allow me to submit to you the truth; to dispel the lies, the rumors, and the God-awful gossip. In order to confirm my suspicions, I discussed Taylor’s reputation with a number of faculty members and students. Unfortunately, I discovered that my fears where correct. When I asked day student Pumelele (Pumi) Maqubela ’06 what he thought of Taylor Hall’s reputation, he responded, “Taylor Hall has a dreadful reputation for illegal activities.” Fellow resident Faisal Kassam ‘06, however, expressed outrage over this false perception. “I cannot comprehend why this community views Taylor as a ‘bad’ dorm, and that we are constantly breaking the rules,” he added, “the rumors that we participate in such activities are nauseatingly false.” James Kelly ’06 agreed that although “there are a few bad apples, for the most part this is an amazing dorm.” Taylor Hall is a community of leaders: in sport, in academics, and in extra-curricular activities. To my knowledge, no other dorm has ever held as many important leadership positions as Taylor Hall. The list is quite long and quite convincing, so you may choose to skip over this section. However, I do not mind elaborating for the stubborn reader. In the halls of Taylor we have the captains of the Golf Team (James Watson ’06), Baseball Team (Matt Boylan ’06), and Lacrosse Team (Matt Yeager ’06). Two among our ranks will go on to play division one college hockey. In addition, we have an All-American swimmer (Bob Divers ’07). We even have a few students with 6.0 averages, a rarity indeed. The majority of graduating seniors from Taylor have been accepted to prominent schools like Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, Brown and Yale. We have the CFO of Andover Economics Society (John Badman ’06). We have the Presidents of Model UN (Dan Bacon ’06), Philomathean Society (Charlie Frentz ’06), Andover Film Society (Nick Anschuetz ’08), and Andover Economics Society. (James Kelly ’ s06). Many members of this community have felt it necessary to perpetuate malicious lies about what goes on in Taylor, knowingly or not, and it is unbearable. Although no dorm is perfect, Taylor Hall is a group of fine young leaders that do not deserve such spiteful slander. In a community where the great swiftness of communication does not discriminate fact from fiction, it is imperative that we promote facts, not rumors. Know that within her great walls, Taylor Hall house many of our campus’ student-leaders. I am proud to say that I am a Taylorite.