Ah, the senior courtyard. We’ve all seen it, but only a fourth of us have been in it. As a freshman, you look in at it with awe as the thought of seeing yourself inside seems light years away. When you’re a sophomore, you look slightly down upon the ogling freshman and chuckle as you remember when you were standing in that same spot.
By the time you’re a junior, you look down from your physics class and watch the seniors playing football and think that you’ll be throwing up the X next year. After junior convocation, everyone storms the courtyard just wanting to get in and finally cross the threshold of those double doors. It’s finally yours and no one knows what to do other than take Snapchats of themselves standing on that plush green turf as if it could be pulled out from under their feet at any second. As a senior in the courtyard, you might find yourself sitting at a table and simply taking everything in.
The sunshine that leaves the ground checkered as if in competition with the shade of the tall trees that serve as protection on a hot August school day. The sound of laughter and the distinct thud that is only heard when a frisbee hits the ground after being aggressively slapped into a black plastic cylinder. The sweaty outdoorsy smell of that one guy who was trying way too hard in a game of football as he tucks his damp shirt back into his pants because he forgot he has a 9th-period class on Tuesdays. Or even the taste of the old pizza from last night that isn’t very good, but it doesn’t matter because you’re in the courtyard and not in class. From my own personal experience, this is how I view our courtyard, everyone has their own paradigm, but these are mine. I hope everyone can identify with at least one of these scenes I just described and can place themselves in it. Anyhow, what I’m getting at, is that the courtyard is awesome and everyone can agree with that.
Mr. David Berend, the Jesuit Vice President for Buildings, highlighted the reason for the change, saying, “The concrete and the sidewalks were installed in 1962. However, they started to separate and were pulled apart, even changing height. We were going to have to somehow get concrete in the courtyard in order to re-concrete it, a task that is very difficult as it surrounded by buildings. It would also have been very expensive. We had turfed the center section about 3 or 4 years ago and we just decided to turf it all. It was less expensive than re-running sidewalks.”
Berend also mentioned that Jesuit “had planned to turf more of the courtyard before the sidewalks started to separate. We had always intended to replace the natural grass in the courtyard as its hard for the grass to get the right amount of sun; it’s hard for it to grow in courtyards.”
Unfortunately, the old courtyard is gone! No sidewalk, all turf, so now literally any spot is a nap spot. Remember that ridiculously long bench that ran along the B hall side of our safe haven? Well, it’s gone and with it, the reign of shin pain that was caused while many hopeless souls were running out wide for a football or a frisbee is absent as well. Also, the lunch tables have been moved to the back, so now they are constantly in the shade which makes for less sweating while eating. The main amendment to the courtyard, however, is a brand new putting green. Golf in Jesuit has been kind of a big deal since 2011 graduate Jordan Spieth began his amazing run in the PGA tour. So this addition of a putting green to the senior courtyard is fitting to Jesuit.
Mr. Berend debunked the rumors that Jordan Spieth gave money for the putting green or that it was an homage to him, saying, “The contractor really recommended it. He took me to several homes in the neighborhood that had their own putting greens and we just said ‘Yeah, let’s do it.'”
One of the concerns of the new turf is the draining issue as water has been known to remain on the turf and form large puddles during rainstorms. When the turf was added, Jesuit also took the chance to install another “90 feet of draining to the two major drains already in the courtyard,” according to Mr. Berend. “We have quite a bit of pipe running under the surface and we sloped the new turf to all the drains.”
Thomas Whitaker ’17 loves the new changes to the courtyard, commenting, “I can’t wait to get out there after the junior convocation. The new turf is very inviting and looks like a ton of fun!” Evan Bausbacher ’17 echoed this excitement when he said, “Although I’m sad to see the courtyard I’ve been looking at for 3 years go, I’m excited to enjoy the new one, especially the putting green.”
The old courtyard had many memories stored away in it, but with the new courtyard comes new memories and a new chapter in Jesuit history. This new courtyard represents a new generation of Jesuit students that us current students can now look back on, reminiscing of the fun memories we made. What’s important about this little-boxed area is that it brings a group of young men together and puts them in one spot where they can be goofy, hungry, tired, loud, or even sweaty. And when we are all old and graduated from college with jobs and kids, we will visit Jesuit, look inside that courtyard, and no matter what it looks like, we will see our courtyard. We’ll also see the times when we ourselves were goofy, hungry, tired, loud, or even sweaty. And really, that’s what the courtyard is all about.
