The above quote is from Jeff Anderson (Class of 1984). Read the full memory below:

Six years before I walked through Van Winkle Gates, I had my first encounter with The Rock. It was April 1974. My father was pursuing his college degree, part time at night, from Rhode Island College. His course schedule at that time included a course in U.S. History. He had a paper due on minorities in the U.S. and was focusing on the Japanese internment during World War II. He had some material but needed to do more research. Thinking the local public libraries wouldn’t have nearly the information he needed, he decided to see if he could use The Rock’s collection in his pursuit of knowledge, but wasn’t sure how to go about it. A couple weeks before the paper was due, he drove up to Prospect Street, parked his car and watched, effectively casing The Rock for weaknesses. He noticed two things: 1) all students showed some sort of card and 2) older adults – professors, researchers etc didn’t and were waved in without showing anything. A week later he decided it was time to get this research done. He drove up on a rainy afternoon, parked and waited. After a few minutes, he saw a group of students walking down Prospect approaching the front door. He quickly got out of his car. Unknowingly he was dressed like Prof. Josiah Carberry. Wearing a long tan raincoat and carrying both an umbrella and a briefcase, he followed the students. They each showed their ID’s and entered. As he approached, the guard said ‘Good Afternoon’. My father replied “Good Afternoon” and continued inside as if he knew where he was going but in fact had no idea what to do next. After collecting himself, having just gained entrance to “The Rock” as if escaping from the other “Rock”, he asked for help and spent the next 7 hours researching his paper. His planning and execution paid off with an “A”. Another 10 years would pass before he would enter the Rock again, but his time it was with me on Graduation Weekend. He entered as he did a decade earlier, with a smile and a friendly “Good Afternoon.” Happy Birthday “Rock.”