David Haviland ’64 was—and remains—an inspiration to many at RPI. Throughout his tenure at Rensselaer, he continually gave himself to the school, serving capacities that ranged from the official and administrative to the collegial and advisory. Even in retirement, he remains active as a resource and a friend of the Institute and its community. Thus, when a fountain was built to greatly improve the landscaping of the residential part of campus, it seemed only right to dedicate it to Haviland, in honor of his years of service to student life and the university as a whole.
A dedication, however, is a double-edged blade; it can be either a tribute or an insult to its recipient. A handsome, lasting monument to recall Haviland’s work would be well-appreciated and well-deserved. The structure that bears his name, though, is more of a blight; it is difficult to recall the times when it has actually been functional, and it seems to have spent more time than not in pieces spread across the lawn behind the Commons Dining Hall. To be in such a state almost two years since its christening is an embarrassment, not an honor.
In all fairness, the fountain has spent so much time deconstructed in the name of repairs; often, it is necessary to take a few steps backward to make progress and eventually finish a project. The reasonable time for repairs has long expired, however. This should have been done—and done right—months ago. Conceptually, the structure was nothing novel; fountains of similar design can be found all over the world. Even given the environmental stresses of a campus in the Northeast, the engineering involved in its construction should hardly have been radical—particularly for a school that made its name in civil engineering. That so many crippling mistakes were made is appalling at the very least.
At any rate, the time is long overdue to see results, not just promises. Several deadlines for the completion of the work have come and gone. Last October, conservative estimates from the administration said that all construction would be finished well before commencement this past spring. Even so, freshmen came to campus in August to see ugly orange fencing blocking off the site. It is truly unconscionable that the Institute can be breaking ground on a new athletic facility that will cost millions of dollars while it cannot find the resources to finally finish the waterfall, a comparatively miniscule project.
Will we ever be able to look at the David Haviland ’64 Fountain with pride, or will we be forever condemned to mentally skip over it as we walk past?
