{"id":210636,"date":"2024-04-24T07:30:28","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T11:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=210636"},"modified":"2024-04-26T12:33:16","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T16:33:16","slug":"an-ode-to-buckley-music-students-pay-their-respects-to-soon-to-close-dining-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/04\/an-ode-to-buckley-music-students-pay-their-respects-to-soon-to-close-dining-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"An \u2018Ode to Buckley\u2019: Music Students Pay Their Respects to Soon-to-Close Dining Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are words that Jacob Lasek says he lives by \u2013 \u201cSomeone is looking up to you, don\u2019t let that person down\u201d might just be his favorite, a proverb he says he embodies every day in the music department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But there are a handful of others he keeps close, too, pinned under the clear case around his cellphone, and declaring things like \u201cFocus on your long-term goals, success is soon yours\u201d and \u201cBe content with your lot. One cannot be first in everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Countdown<\/p>\n

It\u2019s sage advice that Lasek \u201926 (SFA) has collected from a basket of fortune cookies in Buckley Dining Hall<\/a>, a place that\u2019s like a close friend to him and so many others in the School of Fine Arts<\/a> – no wonder those adages are dear.<\/p>\n

Dakota Earley-Dyer \u201926 (SFA) and his friends started a group chat when they were freshmen to arrange their regular, pretty frequent, trips to the dining hall just across the street from the Music Building in the south corner of campus.<\/p>\n

BuckyBrekky, the chat\u2019s official name, has morphed into just a regular group text stream, but it\u2019s important to note, he says, that it started because of that special place and continues to pay homage.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I like going there between Marching Band and Pep Band rehearsals,\u201d Ashton Tyler \u201925 (SFA) says. \u201cPep Band is high intensity and Marching Band has rehearsals outside and then inside. For brass players, you\u2019re pretty much playing until you can\u2019t play anymore, and, for me playing the trumpet, having Buckley as a place to regroup and sit with all your friends is reenergizing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most music majors can easily tell you their favorite memory or what they like best about Buckley, though, Mark Paine \u201925 (SFA) might just be the most unique of the lot.<\/p>\n

He wrote a song about it, \u201cOde to Buckley,\u201d a sentimental tune formed with a ditty he had in his head for a while and just didn\u2019t yet have a place for, that questions where music students will eat when the hall closes later this spring.<\/p>\n

\u2018Where will they go, where can they go, to get what we had\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

John Buckley Residence Hall<\/a> was built and named in 1969<\/a> after its eponym, a Stafford native who grew up in Union, was a UConn trustee for 14 years from 1926-40, and served as a U.S. attorney under two presidents.<\/p>\n

Today, the hall houses only Honors students, alongside its neighbor Shippee Residence Hall, but in different stints through the years was open to all students and often was the place School of Fine Arts students landed, thanks to its proximity to the Fine Arts Complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always found it interesting when I was over there that in the middle of the day you could hear the trumpets from across the street because the music students were rehearsing,\u201d Executive Director of Dining Services Michael White says. \u201cI always thought that was a pretty cool thing about Buckley.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Buckley Hall on Jan. 11, 2019. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As with many dorms at UConn, Buckley was built with a dining hall and at one time was carpeted – yes, it once had carpet, White says – but not much else has changed in 55 years.<\/p>\n

White says the service area has been switched around some and minor upgrades have been done, but largely it looks the same, save most notably the addition of solid, thick-lacquered, sturdy pine tables, chairs, and benches, a hallmark of the place, about 15 years ago.<\/p>\n

In the early days of UConn, students generally ate where they lived, keeping the number of people at each hall in line with roughly the number of people living in the building. Both Shippee and Buckley had dining halls, for instance, even though they\u2019re right next to each other.<\/p>\n

The number of students that Buckley served rose when Shippee\u2019s dining hall closed in the 1990s. But when South Dining Hall opened in 1999, Buckley\u2019s patronage began to drop off, White says. Downtown Storrs started to take shape between 2012 and 2014, and eateries there gained popularity, further impacting its customer base.<\/p>\n

Buckley shifted to a Monday to Friday schedule to compensate. It started hosting special events, like Calzone Night or a sliders bar, to draw people. It even catered to its Fine Arts base, nestling musical notes among the d\u00e9cor and piping in music \u2013 literally avant-garde jazz one afternoon.<\/p>\n

With seating for 252 people, Buckley drew 358 for dinner one mid-February night this semester. By comparison, McMahon Dining Hall, with a capacity of 500, fed 1,672, White says.<\/p>\n

Considering the price of food and cost of operations, the math works out to about $9 per transaction in all the dining halls, he says, with two exceptions \u2013 Gelfenbien Commons in Towers because the Kosher kitchen requires extra workers, and Buckley, where it\u2019s $12 per transaction because of the facility\u2019s age.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a small niche of students who love Buckley, and we know that,\u201d White says. \u201cThey love its intimacy and its proximity to the Fine Arts Complex, but they\u2019re not getting the best value from their meal plan. We try really hard for them, but Buckley is limited in space, equipment, and the potential for upgrades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Discussions about closing Buckley – just the dining hall; the residence hall will remain open – came with construction of the new dorm near Mirror Lake<\/a> and in it the opening of a 500-seat dining hall, dubbed New South for now.<\/p>\n

White says New South will have a juice bar, vegan and vegetarian sections, comfort food and grill stations, a massive salad bar, and a first for campus – a smoker and rotisserie section.<\/p>\n

Dining Services hopes to move into New South this summer and, White says, the goal is to have it ready in time for the fall semester.<\/p>\n

\u2018All the friends we made along the way, the swipes we paid\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

When Paine heard in the fall that Buckley was closing, he took his nugget of a song and fleshed it out, drawing from the band Chicago for inspiration and adding lyrics and other musical parts \u2013 piano, saxophone, trombone, trumpet, electric guitar, electric bass, and drums.<\/p>\n

He recruited a team of musicians from his ensembles and classes, people he\u2019s shuffled across the street with for breakfast after 8 a.m. Harmony class or Piano with Kenneth Clark. And they practiced with a performance for their peers in mind.<\/p>\n

All music students at UConn are required to participate in a weekly Convocation course – \u201cConvo\u201d for short – from 1:25 to 2:15 p.m. every Friday in von der Mehden Recital Hall. One might describe it as a departmental student meeting, a noncredit but required time to gather as a group.<\/p>\n

\"A
In this file photo, students eat lunch at Buckley Dining Hall on March 28, 2016. (Sean Flynn\/UConn Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen I started at UConn it was actually twice a week,\u201d Eric Rice, professor and department head, says. \u201cThe idea is that this is a venue for sharing student performances and for providing information that is important to music students but doesn\u2019t get transmitted as part of a regular class.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a session recently on musculoskeletal health, exercises that students can do to prevent themselves from getting too fatigued while practicing or performing. And at least once a year we do a session on hearing health, which is incredibly important for musicians,\u201d Rice says. \u201cThose are required by the National Association of Schools of Music, so as part of our reaccreditation we need to get this information to students.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, during Convocation, Rice says he brings in professional musicians to give masterclasses and devotes one session per semester to hearing from students, a time when they can vent about empty soap containers in the downstairs bathroom, or rehearsal practice load, or anything else on their minds.<\/p>\n

\u201cConvocation has evolved quite a bit in the last 20 years,\u201d says Rice, who is stepping down next year as the longest-serving music department head. \u201cI\u2019ve been leading the class for the past decade in my role as department head and I strove to build a sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of doing that is fostering a supportive atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Students are required to perform during Convocation at least four times while at UConn, twice as a soloist and twice as part of a chamber group. The last three or four Fridays of each semester are devoted exclusively to these performances \u2013 there are, after all, 175 student musicians here.<\/p>\n

With approval from their applied music teacher \u2013 so, for instance, their clarinet instructor \u2013 students ready for these performances, which sometimes can be nerve-wracking, Rice explains, because many are used to performing as part of large ensembles with the protection and near anonymity that provides, not standing on stage alone for all to see.<\/p>\n

Thus, the importance of that sense of community, friendship, and support.<\/p>\n

Performances run the gamut, Rice says. A student might perform an acapella arrangement of a pop song. A group of tubists might offer an arrangement of Christmas carols. Students might very well perform a piece by Mozart or Brahms to get them ready for their juries, the semester-end solo performance in front of a panel of professors.<\/p>\n

So, it wasn\u2019t exactly unusual that Paine and his crew last semester performed \u201cOde to Buckley,\u201d an original composition with a sweet, if not silly at times, feel. Paine notes in the lyrics of a perhaps not-so-much-favored dish: \u201cAnd all the scrod, I pray to God. I wish that it could stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sarah DiMiceli \u201924 (SFA) was setting up her drum set ahead of the performance, she says, when Rice asked her what the song was going to be like \u2013 keep in mind that one student held up a \u201cSave Buckley\u201d sign during an earlier Convocation.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike a breakup song,\u201d she replied. \u201cBut it also has happy undertones in a way. Buckley has just had such a positive impact on all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, Chandler Creedon \u201924 (SFA), who\u2019s usually a saxophonist, asked Rice to borrow his microphone. He says Rice gave him a raised eyebrow, in a sort of \u201cyou\u2019re singing?\u201d kind of way.<\/p>\n

And then they belted it out, with a standing ovation at the end.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

\u2018The shuffles done under the sun, the dinners sat down late\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rice says that at the end of each academic year, the department gives out a series of superlative awards as another way to build community and join together those who might sing or play, compose or perform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Buckley Shuffle,\u201d DiMiceli says, nodding her head as if she\u2019s in on a gag. \u201cSo, the Buckley Shuffle is famous, and it\u2019s been around for years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the reigning Best Buckley Shuffler,\u201d Creedon proudly proclaims.<\/p>\n

Rice describes the Best Buckley Shuffler award as \u201cperhaps the most coveted,\u201d determined through an online poll, much the same as the other awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBest Buckley Shuffler is the student who most successfully jaywalks through Storrs Road traffic to get to Buckley and also gets back after having eaten,\u201d Rice explains. \u201cIt\u2019s just part of our culture among the music students.\u201d<\/p>\n

DiMiceli says that when music students whisper to each other, \u201cBuck Shuff,\u201d they all know that means \u201cWanna go?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really like the food at Buckley,\u201d she says. \u201cChicken nugget day is a really great day. I\u2019m also a big fan of the perogies with sweet potato.\u201d<\/p>\n

Colin Quigley \u201925 (SFA) says Buckley is part of the tradition of being a UConn music student, and he\u2019s heartened to see this year\u2019s freshmen shuffling across the street after Ear Training class, just the same as he did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all sit at one table, and they all just become great friends,\u201d Quigley says. \u201cIt\u2019s just been a constant for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rock versions of Christmas songs, Michael Jackson\u2019s greatest hits in reggae style, the lyrics of \u201cAll Star\u201d by Smash Mouth over the melody of a Taylor Swift song, all of which have been piped in overhead at one time or another, are just a few of the things that will be missed.<\/p>\n

In the fall semester, Andrew Rozzi \u201925 (SFA) says, one of the workers brought in their dog, Otis, and students ogled and roughhoused with the pooch after finishing their meals. It\u2019s something, he suspects, he\u2019s not likely to see at other dining halls.<\/p>\n

\n

The single peak fond memory for me \u2013 because it\u2019s just so consistently very nice \u2013 is just sitting down with friends, that everyday kind of thing. That we can just go across the street and have fun, eat, talk. It has just good vibes, I suppose. — Mark Paine \u201925 (SFA)<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe single peak fond memory for me \u2013 because it\u2019s just so consistently very nice \u2013 is just sitting down with friends, that everyday kind of thing. That we can just go across the street and have fun, eat, talk. It has just good vibes, I suppose,\u201d Paine says.<\/p>\n

Having a place nearby is especially important to music majors, Paine explains, because perhaps more than other majors they\u2019re in the same building for as long as 12 hours each day, with classes that start at 8 a.m., rehearsals that convene in the afternoon and evening, performances at night, and time in a practice room in between.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music major is a very physical major because you have to be present and doing the thing you\u2019re in school to do. There\u2019s not a lot of online work. It\u2019s playing or singing or composing. So, a lot of the time, all our work gets done in this building. We\u2019re here all the time,\u201d Creedon says.<\/p>\n

Lasek adds, \u201cJust because of this group, we\u2019re talking a lot about being music majors and our relationship with Buckley, but really it\u2019s the entire School of Fine Arts. You could talk to a similar group of people on the other side of the building, in Dramatic Arts or Art and DMD in Bishop, and they\u2019ll give you the same answers about Buckley. It\u2019s very unifying across the whole school.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Students who recorded \u201cOde to Buckley\u201d are Mark Paine, composer\/keyboard; Chandler Creedon, saxophone; Sarah DiMiceli, drums; Dakota Earley-Dyer, vocals; Jacob Lasek, electric bass; Andrew Rozzi, trombone; Ashton Tyler, trumpet; and Colin Quigley, electric guitar.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A tribute to a gathering spot that has been much more than just a place to eat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":212972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1711,2229,1914,2461,99,2235,2225,2227,2458,2234,70],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2368],"class_list":["post-210636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-commencement","category-sfa","category-staff","category-student-life","category-today-homepage","category-uconn-storrs","category-uconn-edu-homepage","category-undergraduates","category-university-life","category-video","post_format-post-format-video"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 16:33:16","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210636"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213239,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210636\/revisions\/213239"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/212972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210636"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=210636"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=210636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}