Brooks Hall, Allegheny College

Pennsylvania · USA · School

Pennsylvania law kept sorority houses off campus, so the sisters lived in the women's dormitory. Pinning a girl meant a torchlit procession down Brooks.

Brooks Hall at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania is the all female dormitory, and one room on the third floor carries the accounts.

The background is a genuine piece of Pennsylvania legal history. The state did not permit sorority houses on campus, under an old statute originally aimed at houses of ill repute. The consequence was that sorority members were housed together in Brooks Hall instead.

That produced a tradition. When a young man pinned a girl, he walked down Main Street with his fraternity brothers behind him carrying torches, and the procession came down Brooks Walk, a long approach to the hall.

A torchlit column arriving at a women's dormitory at night is a striking enough image that it would generate stories on its own.

What is reported in the room itself has been passed between generations of residents who arrive knowing which one it is. The hall is student accommodation and is not open to visitors.

FAQ

Hvor ligger Brooks Hall, Allegheny College?

Brooks Hall, Allegheny College ligger i Pennsylvania, USA.

Image: Nyttend / Public domain / Wikimedia Commons