So the story of the demise of Throop Hall is well known – There was an earthquake, and the administration tore down the building because they didn’t know if it was still safe or not.

However, a few moles wanted to keep a piece of the building. In fact, they realized that the giant metal spiral staircase that was once a part of Throop Hall would be a lovely new addition to the hovse. To give an indication of scale, they thought it would provide a wonderful way to get to the Dabney/Heaven sleeping porch from the trash courtyard. I heard this story from my roommate, Talia, who heard it from an old alum during ass tea, so some details may have been corrupted in these retellings

A group of moles snuck behind the fence guarding Throop Hall one night and opened the gate. After exploring for a bit and deciding that the giant metal staircase was definitely unwanted, they managed to roll the staircase out of the complex with a great deal of heaving and hauling. Unfortunately, soon after they maneuvered the staircase out of the gated area, and locked the gate behind themselves, they encountered security, who asked them what they were doing. They hemmed and hawed for a little bit, but security, who was much more forgiving at the time, told them to just put the staircase back.

Upon realizing that they would need to open the gate again to get the staircase back into the construction area, the moles asked security if they could kindly open the gate for them, so that they wouldn’t have to lift the staircase over the gate again. Security obliged, and after struggling for some time, the students got the staircase back where they found it. As this was happening, security looked all around — at the students, at the trees, at the fence — wondering how this measly group of students had managed to get this massive staircase over the fence the first time, given how they were had so much trouble just rolling it back into the complex. Fortunately, they didn’t say anything, and the students got away scot free, having avoided a major crackdown on the hovse.

-Bella Guo,

Historian, ‘17