BEg2 ch11 “the fence” CMU lore

[Michael Bailey]

Maxine: Carefully, “When’s the last time you saw her?” (Her being Tallis,
March’s daughter)

March:         “Carnegie Mellon when she got her M.B.A. Years now. I wasn’t
even invited, but I went anyhow. Even from where I was, way in the back,
she was radiant. I lurked around the Fence there for a while hoping she’d
come by.”



https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-fence-pittsburgh-pennsylvania

Once the most painted on object in the world, this short campus fence is
well on its way to being so again.

CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PAINTED a fence for 70 years, with the
Guinness Book of World Records calling it “the most painted object in the
world” with six inches of paint covering it. It would collapse under the
weight of all those coats in 1993, but a new concrete fence was built to
replace it. Today, students carry on the tradition of painting the Fence at
night.

Fences used to surround a bridge over a ravine on the property when the
Carnegie Institute of Technology was established in Pittsburgh in 1900. The
bridge was a popular meeting place for students at the time. Further
construction would lead to the ravine being filled in over the early years
of the school, and the bridge and its fences no longer being necessary. To
commemorate the favored meeting spot, the graduating Class of 1923 built a
picket fence on the site to keep tradition alive. However, school officials
decided that it was an eyesore and should be brought down. The night before
the fence was to come down, a fraternity painted it with a party
announcement, and due to the fence’s central location on campus, it was the
largest party in school history. The administration yielded, and the Fence
continued to be a billboard for student groups, becoming covered with layer
upon layer of paint.

The painting would continue for 70 more years until it collapsed under the
weight of its painted layers in 1993. To carry on the tradition, a
steel-reinforced concrete fence was built on the site, and students
continue to paint it to this day. Tradition dictates that the Fence must
only be painted at night, from midnight to 6 AM, in its entirety, using
only brushes. If a group wants to keep the message up over a few days, the
Fence must be guarded around the clock with at least two students. The
Fence has once again accumulated four inches of paint covering it, catching
up to the record set by the old Fence one layer at a time.
Know Before You Go

On the Carnegie Mellon University campus, the Fence sits in front of
Doherty Hall.