The Green
"Room of Requirement"
Did you know that the Green Room wasn’t always green? Heck, in 1957 it wasn’t even a room, but a gymnasium, a stage, and dance hall. Over the years the Green Room has become the most versatile room in the Upper School. For example, today the couches make a great place for non-seniors to study in comfort (as they have yet to earn the honor of entering what is the best smelling, cleanest, black light safe zone known as the “senior room”). Special lunches for sports teams are held there, too. There is also a wide open space for dances where it is open season for students to boogie down, jump in sand, and “twerk.” Faculty members, visiting guests, the Parents Association, and the Annual Joy of Giving use this room for socializing. And, of course, every Friday we have assemblies in the Green Room. The entire High School gathers to listen to Mr. Bronner tell corny jokes and rarely absorb relevant information about upcoming school events. Today, the green room is an all-purpose gathering space.
Let me take you back fifty years ago. The year is 1964. The Beatles hold the top five positions in the Billboard top 40 singles in America and the ULS Green Room was a gym. Students wore “bell-bottoms” and showed flower power. The floor was not the “beautiful” green and brown sparkly carpet that we live with today. The door that leads to the teacher’s lounge was a wall. Mr. Bicha-Dale’s room was split into two locker rooms attached to the bathrooms. It’s hard to imagine that where today we dance, ULS alumni played basketball, volleyball, and participated in gym class. There was no Brumder Gym, no Fine Arts building, no Middle School, no Lower School, and no Commons–the Green Room was it! The place to be.
The current Green Room.
By Murphy McFadden
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