When the Usdan University Center opens next fall, it will offer new state-of-the-art kitchens, outdoor terraces, two new dining halls, and even a basement rehearsal space. One thing it won’t offer, however, is the famous MoCon balcony “announcement platform,” so dramatically demonstrated to clueless freshmen who find themselves suffering the traditional cacophony of banging cups and trays.

One of the prominent aspects of the new Usdan University Center, scheduled to open next fall, will be a spiral staircase in the main entryway in a similar style to that of MoCon. Students will walk up the new staircase, not down it, however, and it will not overlook either of the two main dining halls housed on the second floor.

According to University Center Director Rick Culliton, the design of the staircase did not, to his knowledge, have anything to do with the existing one at of MoCon.

“There was a rumor that President [Doug] Bennet had this staircase plan added,” Culliton said. “I don’t think it was him personally-—it was really architect-inspired.”

Bennet confirmed this, though he did take one lesson from MoCon: the new staircase should offer students a view of a common area.

“[The announcement platform] was not the way I thought about it,” Bennet told the Argus. “Midge [Bennet] commented that one of the things wrong with the old university center is that you can’t see anyone from above. And that’s a great thing about MoCon.”

While announcements on the balcony looking over the first floor café and central entrance would be possible, the audience would be much sparser and composed of students entering or exiting the building.

For students this means the end of a tradition, which, according to some, embodies the very heart of the values and ideals of the University.

“This is a very vocal campus,” said Joanna Arnow ’08. “There’s a lot of Wespeaks and things written on bathroom doors—it’s good people have an outlet.”

Announcements—along with more visible forms of expression like chalking and streakers—are for older students part of what sets the campus apart from other more “mainstream” liberal arts institutions. The Facebook group “Keep Wesleyan Weird” is meant to embody these sentiments and serve as a meeting place for people seeking to preserve, according to its website, the “unique culture at Wes.”

Some freshmen, however, seem to harbor much less nostalgia for the tradition, verging on ambivalence. Many seem much more anxious about the changes in dining options that will accompany the new University Center and a new food service provider, Bon Appétit, during their next three years.

“I don’t really care too much, one way or the other,” said Kate Harvey ’10. “I’m excited to see the new campus center, it will be cool.”

Adam Schlesinger ’10, however, did find value in the “MoCon platform” for its use as a simple communication tool.

“It’s great,” Schlesinger said. “I used it to get a carpool back home to New York. I got money for gas.”

According to Miguel Rosa, who has been working for 13 years at MoCon, the staff is very familiar with the announcement tradition, unlike some of the newer students. He considers it, along with streakers and other oddities, part of the long-time tradition at Wesleyan.

“It’s been going [since I’ve been here], probably even before,” Rosa said. “It’s fun. Sometimes they have a song, or something to perform. Everyone [who works here] likes it. We even have staff that come out here to listen to the speeches.”

Many students, in addition to simple nostalgia, further expressed a surprising amount of sensitivity and even defensiveness in favor of the time-honored practice. In particular, some referred to their disdain for the system of “cup critique.”

“How could I forget [the announcements]?” Arnow said. “They were fun, but I just didn’t like it when people dropped cups. They were being assholes.”

Robert Mackenna ’05 further explained his memory of the “cup critique” system, which students shaped as a crude method for instantly expressing their opinion of the announcer.

“That was always the reaction to people giving the presentation or speech,” Mackenna said. “It was like jeering, like booing.”

The fate of the tradition, much like the fate of MoCon itself, seems to still be up in the air at this point. Some students have even made an active effort to keep some version alive.

According to Rosa, a student came into MoCon a few weeks ago and, with appropriate irony, made an announcement about the tradition itself. He said he wanted to keep it alive at the new University Center.

Another MoCon student tradition, the student-made banners which down along the windows, has not been forgotten in the new University Center space. According to Culliton, the staff had an area in mind, but they plan to wait until construction is finished to designate a definite location.

“Around the café with the grand staircase there are openings around the sides, and we anticipate that as a space [to hang banners],” Culliton said. “It’s probably going to be the best location for visibility.”

If more passionate students like the one who Rosa witnessed have their say, it is likely that the tradition will find some new form or method, regardless of the structural setbacks. For Mackenna, it was not the building that shaped the atmosphere, but something else.

“I just feel like MoCon was a very interesting place, and it definitely wasn’t because of the food,” he said.