Editorial: Farewell to the CUA Class of 2018

By The Tower Staff

With college being a time when you learn and grow, and open and close so many doors, the class of 2018 has lived through a hell of a lot of moments.

Let’s begin with our beautiful LCs, which started at 9:10 AM Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. What the heck was that? After a night out at McFadden’s (which closed because a guy got stabbed) our little freshman selves had to get up Friday morning to see that random kid who started as a seminarian and then found love and exited the religious life. It’s crazy to think that when we started here, upperclassmen lived in trailers in front of Curley, the bookstore was in the Pryz where Murphy’s is, and we took classes in Marist! Everybody went to a tailgate at the Duf and gave us false hope that people actually went to sporting events here. Who could forget the rush of the bouncer handing the ID back to you in front of Town Tavern saying “you’re good to go”? And not just bouncers, but the $5 fee upperclassmen made you pay to get into darties. Speaking of $5, let us not forget the man, the myth, and the legend, Five Dollar Dave. This friendly stranger brought the class of 2018 to and from bars, hockey games, and house parties in a freaking school bus as if high school hadn’t just been left behind us. Monroe Street Market had just opened that summer, and little did we know that it would essentially become upperclassmen housing.

Whether it was the massive snowstorm or multiple campus lockdowns, people loved staying inside in Opus during sophomore year. Opus was nothing but eventful, and friendships were ended just trying to get in. Luckily, we all came back together for a once-in-a-lifetime experience as we saw Pope Francis ride through campus and speak right on our Basilica lawn. Our university was in the national spotlight as we hosted his first papal visit to America.

There are a couple things that we could rely on during our time here. One, St. Patrick’s Day would always be an absolute blast, and two, tuition would always increase.

Our antics at the Pryz after a darty probably should’ve gotten us in trouble, but instead gave us some of the best memories of ye ol’ faithful always welcoming us with some fries, grilled cheeses, and mediocre pizza.

Shoutout to the people who you could have a blast with on Saturday night and then give a casual head nod to at Sunday mass. In the long run, we’ll appreciate more and more the faith aspect of our community and education

The days of late-night monumenting have passed, but there’s still time to cross things off our D.C. bucket lists, and we need to appreciate this city before we all leave.

This campus will look a lot different in ten years, and we’ll say “we wish we were students now”, as former alumni have said to us. But change is good. The place will change but our memories won’t. Class of 2018: best of luck in whatever you go for, but if you ever feel like you just need to watch some nuns play basketball, you know you have a home at Catholic.

Special thanks to our two graduating seniors at The Tower —

Editor in Chief Jimmy Cassidy and A&E Editor Daniela Sol