Hello,

I'm an alumnus, and I recently heard about the tearing down of Colayco Hall. I wrote something about it in my blog, if any of you are interested:

http://tiaong.blogspot.com/2005/03/colayco-hall-is-gone.html

J~

Jesse,

Thanks for sharing your article. I hung out in the Pub Room too but that was before your time. My college years were in the mid to late eighties -- when the Pub Room actually had a view of Katipunan.

Your description of the social demarcations of Colayco Hall are pretty accurate. Never heard anybody put it down in words but you just about summed it up. Pub Room memories will always be associated with sago races, Trivial Pursuit tournaments, plotting against La Salle in the UAAP wars, cutting classes the whole day to sing the entire Beatles repertoire, girl-watching and, most importantly, trying to beat deadlines to put out the best college paper in the country!

Too bad Colayco is being torn down. Those were happy years.

Cheers, fellow Pub Roomer.

For the ASG geeks in the late 90's (and early 00), the following Colayco activities will be missed:

1. Playing Contract and Bastardized Bridge!
2. Whining over difficult math exams (and failing marks)
3. Org Work!
4. Discussing trivial mathematical theories
5. Mocking eccentric professors
6. Sleeping under the midday sun
7. Accoustic music...

.. those were the days..

But we all must look forward to the new Colayco, where great memories will be made for the next generation of Ateneans.

Sad to hear about the end of Colayco hall. But then again, the only permanent thing in life is change, and I guess Colayco Hall just got too small for the growing college organization corps.

I guess what you guys call the Pub Room was where the "publications" organizations held fort during my time. As a former Photo Ed/Staff of a couple of those orgs, I'll miss the Colayco darkroom where many photos that ended up in the Guidon, Aegis, Matanglawin, Heights, etc. developed while submerged in trays of pungent smelling chemicals. Of course, the nice thing about the publlications room of Colayco Hall was its front seat to the setting sun (Colayco Hall during my time was the last building before Gate 3). After getting your ass whipped by Frs. Que-Rox Ferriols and "George" Gorospe, receiving a "basket of eggs" by way of Doc Marasigan's exams, and covering another losing seniors basketball game, just sitting there gazing at an unobstructed view of Katipunan while smoking your lungs out with a pack of "blue seal" cigs from Tong Long just made the daily struggles bearable.

I guess I am one of the "cursed" denizens of Colayco Hall. My first boss after graduation, who eventually worked out my posting at New York for a couple of years, was Manny Colayco's nephew.

It is a sad to hear about Colayco Hall.

I'll miss:

- getting those naps in between classes
- getting a glimpse through the small glass window on the door of the the people who pass by
- going through the traffic of people going in/out of their org rooms whenever the bell rang
- saying hi to the COA and the OSA people
- having numerous meetings big and small in those small rooms

Thanks for sharing your blog entry with us, jesse. I think your analysis was spot-on and also did the building justice.

I was saddened to hear that Colayco Hall was going to be torn down. Even though I think I spent most of my time in the library, I also spent a significant amount of time in Colayco Hall.

I became a part-time Colayco denizen by way of the BOA Room, but wound up spending most of my Colayco time in the Publications Room as a member of Heights. I swear there was some strange magic going on in that room. I was studying for a Theology test in there once and practically all my reference materials just disappeared into thin air. No matter how hard I searched, they didn't turn up, not then and not for the rest of the year (Fortunately I passed the test.)

I think that, in addition to the building itself, part of the Colayco Hall experience also extended to becoming a regular at Food for Thought (my friends and I always looked forward to Hungarian Sausage pasta on Mondays) and hanging out by the "Colayco benches" which were actually closer to Faura Hall.

I suppose I should just take comfort in the fact that it's only the building and not my memories that will go, but I still can't help feeling a small sense of loss.

I hope the Ateneans who will use the new building that will rise on that site will wind up with as many happy memories of student life as I did.

Maverick, Grotrian0203, Jaco D'Shepherd, brianz, 5FootCarrot,

Wow, thanks for reading my blog entry. I just had to write it and share it.

If you can, pls forward the link to other Colayco denizens.

Jesse, you are welcome and thanks also for sharing it.

Though I'm part of an org (AIESEC) which most people misunderstand, a lot of my time was spent in Colayco - either as quiet time (I always thought that Rizal library was too noisy at that time), acting as the bantay (because no one wanted to stay there) or as my time to mingle with the other organizations there (most of the presidents of the other orgs were friends as well). There was Mang Manny of course (is he still there?) and Anna who had the high-tech xerox machine.

The building will be torn down. However, as many have said, the people who will use the new Colayco (will there be one?) will be the ones to go through what we all have gone through.

brianz,

I think people misunderstand AIESEC because it's in French--Just kidding! But that's true, AIESEC seemed so way up there. It had an aura of some sorts. And you guys get to be sent abroad pa. Dressed well too.

The new bulding will be called Ateneo Student Center. I don't know if it will still be Colayco Hall. I guess it depends on the benefactor. (I used to think it was donated by the Colayco family!)

Jesse~

colayco is more than just a building... it's a home... it was, is, and will always be for me...

I was a tambay of Colayco myself. I entered college in '87 but Colayco became my "home away from home" '89. I remember our org. occupying the big room opposite that of Guidon's and boy we had a good time way back then.

I was with the Political Society of Ateneo then and we shared the room with Kaingin and two other orgs and since the members of those two orgs preferred not to stay there, the room became the domain of Kaingin and PSA.

That big room was really the best... We had our small basketball hoop where we would have our mini cage wars ( where I got a back injury which bugs me till now), we had a hammock were we slept on free cuts and on times we chose to cut classes, we even had a mini boombox that played music all day long. That room was also the place where we would share typewriters and cram for our term papers.

Colayco is one place in Ateneo I would never forget.

i may be a new grad but colayco is definitely still a part of the ateneo lifestyle of today. I am a part of two organizations- both of which are nested in Colayco: REGCOM, which occupies the first door to the right after the Lobby if you are coming from Kostka Hall, and AEGIS which resides at the foot of the stairs beside the Sanggu Room. And everyday for the past two years, Colayco has been a part of my life that I will definitely miss hanging out there and all the bonding sessions i had undergone under its roof.


The Regcom Room in Colayco during the farewll Colayco Party.