Junior economics and finance major
As you walk up cold granite steps to open a heavy door, you might think you are entering some sort of Gothic castle. Instead, you step into the welcoming confines of Van Munching Hall. Its imposing and stoic appearance differs from the bricks and columns characteristic of the campus’s colonial style, but the differences don’t end there.
An atrium design splits the building down the middle and gives it an airy feeling. Stone floors amplify each footstep along the long central hall. Elegant wooden panels and abundant seating line the walls. The overall design is classic and evokes a historic bank interior with its sense of reliability and prestige.
The architecture is nice, but what really distinguishes Van Munching is its unique ambiance. It is home to a constant flurry of activity from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. like no other location on the campus. A constant stream of employers and interviewers ensures you will see ambitious students and experienced professionals dressed their best on any given day.
The wide halls create a coffee-shop atmosphere that spreads from Rudy’s, the business school’s cafe, throughout the rest of the building. This setting allows for an array of conversations. Recruiters make small talk with prospective applicants; ambitious finance students discuss the markets; and sorority sisters chat about the latest events. Loudest of all might be the MBAs, who might be a few years older but often forget to use their “inside voices.”
This area makes for a great study environment if you are able to snag one of the couches in the hallway. Each comes equipped with a little black table on a swivel, convenient for a laptop and beverage. The comfortable seating combines with the surrounding murmurs to create one of the best spots to get work done on the campus. The noise level is punctuated hourly with the frenzy of hundreds of students entering and leaving classrooms.
On a campus where, in terms of comfort, academic buildings are often hit-or-miss, and miss, and miss, Van Munching stands out as one of the best. Unlike classrooms in many other campus buildings, Van Munching’s classrooms offer lavish amenities such as comfortable seats, air conditioning and projectors.
There are newer buildings on the campus, but they don’t measure up to Van Munching. Knight Hall is nice, but journalism majors spend most of their time snooping about, anyway. The Physical Sciences Complex is amazing, but it doesn’t serve thousands of undergraduates as Van Munching does.
When Van Munching opened, its namesake, beer mogul and university donor Leo Van Munching Jr, christened the building by smashing a bottle of Heineken against its brick facade. More than 20 years later, we can still raise our glass to toast one of the gems of College Park.
Daniel Galitsky is a junior economics and finance major. He can be reached at dgalitskydbk@gmail.com.
