Ceiling Collapses in Weld Hall

The roof fell in on the Yard's oldest unreconditioned building early yesterday morning, as part of the ceiling in a room in Weld Hall collapsed around an inhabitant.

John E. Donahue '64 was the only person in the room at the time of the accident. "I was just studying," he said, "when I thought I heard rain. Then I looked up and a big chunk came out of the ceiling." Donahue, visibly shaken by the experience, said that the plaster crashed to the floor less than a foot from where he was sitting. "The chair I had been sitting in 15 minutes before was completely covered," he said.

An estimated 38 square feet of plaster fell from the ceiling. One of the workmen who repaired the room yesterday said that that amount of plaster would have been "very, very heavy" and would probably have seriously injured anyone beneath it.

Among the other residents of Weld, an 89-year-old dorm that has become the symbol in the Yard of housing deterioration, reaction was mixed. Said one: "the Administration ought to be a little more concerned about this. If they were living underneath our ceilings, maybe they would be. All we can do now is hope Trottenberg's office gets it next." Arthur D. Trottenberg, Assistant Dean for Operating Services, is in charge of buildings and grounds. His office is Weld 8, Donahue lives in Room 13.

Commented another Weld inhabitant, "The 325 year tradition of Harvard indifference to everything should continue and Weld should not be repaired. After all, the piece of plaster that fell was in the shape of a Veritas shield."