Seventh annual High Table dinner connects freshmen, faculty

The seventh annual High Table dinner was held on Monday at the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center. It offered an opportunity for freshmen and faculty to share a meal together and interact outside of the typical classroom setting. More than 70 professors intermixed with the Class of 2019 for a unique dining experience.

The dinner was served at long, narrow tables where students and faculty ate together. The basketball court was turned into a banquet hall replete with nice tablecloths and silverware. The attendees were served three-course meals that culminated in chocolate mousse.

Freshman Tolu Ajayi enjoyed the occasion to have regular conversations with a professor and feel as though they were just regular people. He enjoyed learning more about their lives outside of Hopkins.

“None of us had any majors related to what he taught,” Ajayi said. “He was less of a professor in a position of authority and more like someone we just had dinner with. It was his first time too. He was in the same situation. He told us a story about how he got a concussion.... He was playing basketball with other professors, then someone just whammed him straight in the face. They have actual lives other than just teaching us. It was nice.”

Freshman Jacob Kim, who spoke with another professor, agreed with Ajayi’s opinion. He thought that it was a good experience to talk to someone about what being a Ph.D. student was like, and it gave him another perspective about life at Hopkins.

“The professor was very nice... She’s a [computer science] Ph.D.,” he said. “We talked until the end. We actually stayed a bit overtime... [We discussed] what it was like as an undergraduate. She’s been in Baltimore for four years.”

Freshman Calix Mateos Salles enjoyed talking to Robert Barbera, who teaches Elements of Macroeconomics but with whom he has never spoken before.

“It was really cool talking to him. We had really good talks about actual economics and the real world. And the dinner was really good,” Salles said. “It was fun.”

Freshmen attendees agreed that it was worthwhile talking to faculty that they would not have met otherwise as well as being able to see professors as normal people that have their own lives and interesting things to say outside of class and their research interests. They also enjoyed the meal catered by Bon Appétit, which was more sophisticated than the usual fare.

“I really liked the chocolate mousse,” freshman Paul Vallejo said.

Freshman Class Senator Jenn Baron said she enjoyed being a part of the planning team for the High Table dinner and helping the event come to fruition.

“The event is mainly done by the staff, but what we get to help out with is the food tasting,” Baron said. “And we also help with the marketing.”

Freshman Sam Lenner said that she wished she had more in common with the professors that she dined with.

“It was a cool that Hopkins put on an event like that, but by chance I ended up near two professors with whom I didn’t have a lot in common so it was hard to engage with them,” she said.

Freshman Aaron Pultman praised faculty-student interaction.

“High Table was a truly enriching experience,” he said. “It allowed me to take a break from day-to-day life and interact with my peers and professors in a beautiful and enjoyable environment.”