For the second year in a row, outdoor campus activities, including Spring Fair, Commencement and Homecoming, will be restricted to Garland Field as a result of the Master Plan. However, events requiring more space than is offered on Garland Field will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by Plant Operations and alternative locations, including space on Homewood campus, other Hopkins campuses and off-campus locations will then be considered, Hopkins administrators said.
"The Master Plan set aside Garland Field for heavy-usage activities," said Steve Campbell, Director of Planning and Project Development for Plant Operations.
The move of Spring Fair, Commencement and Homecoming to Garland Field last year had mixed results. Critics maintain that the change in location negatively affected the atmosphere of events by moving them away from the center of campus. Others said that Garland Field allowed for improved logistics of event setup, convenient parking and improved event accessibility for the community.
However, most agree that keeping these traditional events anywhere on the Homewood campus is more important than where on campus they are held.
Students and administrators say they are willing to consider alternative campus locations in order to make events work and keep them at Homewood.
"We're going to keep Spring Fair on campus," said Joe Hanauer, co-Chair of Spring Fair 2002.
Spring Fair already fills up Garland Field and spills over onto Goodnow Dr, the road between Garland Field and the Lower Quad. A small portion of the Lower Quad and the President's Garden are also used during the weekend-long festivities.
"It was crowded. I was close to getting skewered by someone's kabob," said Radha Chirumamilla, a junior. "When it was on the freshman quad, it felt like it was really on-campus. It almost felt like the festive atmosphere left when they moved it to Garland Field."
"It was confusing," said sophomore Jeff Chang. "It felt thrown-together."
Hanauer says that if space on Garland Field and the surrounding area becomes inadequate, there are several alternatives.
Administrators have mentioned Homewood campus locations such as U-Lot, a large parking lot on San Martin Drive, as possible alternatives for where to move the majority of fair activities. Another option includes utilizing additional space in and around the Mattin Center.
Additionally, other Johns Hopkins locations such as the Johns Hopkins at Eastern High School campus and off-campus locations such as the Baltimore Convention Center are also under consideration as possible sites to use.
Commencement exercises, which filled Garland Field last May, face space considerations that have forced the University to place a limit of four guests per graduating senior.
A larger tent will be used this year, and administrators hope this will reduce congestion.
Administrators had considered moving graduation to the Baltimore Arena last year but was met with quick resistance to the idea by a number of students when the idea was discussed at a Student Council meeting in the fall of 2000.
"My understanding is that President Brody and the students would like to see it [Commencement] stay here on campus," said Deborah Stewart, who oversees Commencement exercises through the Office of Special Events.
However, according to one University administrator, the conflicting interests of wanting to keep Commencement on campus and wanting to give more tickets to graduating students to allow their friends and family to attend leave a good possibility that Commencement may be moved off-campus in the future.
One event that looks unlikely to move is Homecoming. Karen Moul, Assistant Director of Homewood Alumni Relations, said that initially she was nervous about the move of the Homecoming tent from the upper quad to Garland Field, but she cited some positive results of the move.
"Any time a well-established event has to make changes, everyone's a little nervous, including myself," said Moul.
There are certain aspects of the move that do make Moul's job easier. Some consider the Garland Field location more convenient. "It worked out pretty well. In terms of catering and logistics, it's actually better for us. Alumni also like being able to park right next to the tent."
Moul said that moving to Garland Field presented a new challenge in that the Homecoming tent is now farther away from the lacrosse field and is too far for elderly alumni to walk.
"We hired a lot of shuttle busses to drive up San Martin Drive," explained Moul.
"This Master Plan is like a plan for the next 200 years. I try to roll with the punches."
Eventually, Garland Field will be turned into a fourth quad with the construction of another building and improvements made to the lawn area and pathways.
According to Campbell, a second phase of development is scheduled to occur after Commencement that will focus on the area of Garland Field to the south, Gilman Hall to the north, Latrobe Hall to the east, and Hodson Hall to the west.
The goal is to improve this area to the quality of the first phase of development that occurred on the upper and lower quads, the freshman quad and the Beach area.
The effect this will have on events held in that space is unclear, although administrators maintain that events will remain on Garland Field.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.