In our latest installment of “In Defense Of…”, Nikhita Mahtani takes on the haters of The Nexus/Vagelos Center/Diana’s new color scheme.

Barnard’s new student center has been in the making for a long time now. Every semester, Barnard students wait for the incessant banging in the Quad to stop and the walkway between Altschul and Milbank to open, so they can sleep in for five more minutes every morning. Finally, the wait is over, and the inappropriately nicknamed Vag has started showing some signs of completion. But Barnard students are far from happy. 

Unlike the picturesque Alfred Lerner Hall, with its big glass windows and neutral colors, the Vag decides to be a bit more… well, unique in its approach. According to the renderings on Barnard’s website, the Vag will have dull peach/orange colored windows, and the inside will have a multitude of red and orange chairs to ‘complement’ the outside. A mixture of dull and bright reds, coupled with the bright yellow tube lights they have decided to put in, will definitely give all Barnard students the vision of entering the 70’s, complete with hip colors and groovy disco ball themed effects. Not something you want when entering a student center… or is it?

Yes, the colors might be too much and the lighting might be too strong, but the Vag has something that Lerner doesn’t – a personality. For students trying to study at the Vag, falling asleep will be just about impossible; there’s simply no way you could drift into dreamland with those bright lights and colors staring at you in the face.  Imagine how much money you’ll save on coffee and Red Bull!

Plus, the Vag’s garish appearance will make it stand out to all manner of passersby.  No more will you have to worry about Barnard being unnoticed, BC students – you can’t miss that campus with the big red building overlooking Broadway, especially when it’s opposite those dreary, (gasp!) gray Columbia buildings.  How unoriginal, no?  Naturally, whether this attention will be good has yet to be determined, but let’s take what we can get; we can surely all agree that there’s truly nothing that catches the eye like the stately combination of orange, peach, and red.

Finally, however odd or mismatched it may seem, the Vag does at least one thing right with its color scheme. Yes, its chairs are extremely red, and yes, it is generally way too bright. But consider this – at least it isn’t pink. Think of a women’s college, and what color patterns come to mind?  Feminine ones, like pale lavender or bright pink, of course. We have to hand it to the Vag for stepping bravely away from this stereotype, instead giving us a bright, cheerful gathering place that’s equally appealing (or offensive) to all genders. Sure, it might take you a few trips and a couple of pairs of sunglasses to enjoy it, but who knows—in the end, you might find that going to the Vag is just “peachy!”