ABSTRACT
Descriptions of physical space—poorly funded centers housed in basements and broom closets and well-funded centers housed in clean, well-lit places—are frequently invoked as ways of articulating writing center identity, history, and politics. Built in the 1970s along the eastern border of campus, Jeremiah Curtin Hall is a nine-story, T-shaped modernist building that resembles a grain silo or, some say, a film projector. Its exterior of corrugated gray concrete was originally meant to be covered by a facade of green marble, but when the original contractor died, or some say committed suicide, the new contractor refused to do anything beyond the minimum work necessary to finish the job. The palm tree, Erika, the broken clock, and toys have disappeared. The mauve easy chair and other rummaged furniture have been replaced by two additional file cabinets. The fluorescent lights have been turned on, and the jazz has been turned off.
