The man, the legend

So we all knew that Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard revitalized Columbia’s School of Mines, but did you know that he also founded Columbia’s School of Mimes? Just kidding, not really, but he was actually deaf. According to Professor James C Egbert, who knew him when he was President of Columbia:

He was very deaf, and his desk was fitted up with a sort of amplifier through which the person who was calling upon him was compelled to speak. This was very awkward when one was particularly anxious to make an impression on him.

In honor of Gus Barnard, as he was known to his friends, here are some quintessential Barnard sounds we would play in his desk ear-trumpet, were he alive today:

• A girl screaming “wait, I forgot my purse” in the quad at 2 am, perfectly audible from every room on the block
• The tinkling of the Riverside carillon
• The creepy as fuck whispering sound tunnel by the mailboxes
• WBAR
• The crash of cutlery hurriedly thrown into that narsty bin in Hewitt
• The futuristic voice of the woman who says “going up” in the Diana elevator
• The click of a high-heeled power-walk through Barnard Hall
• The horrifying noise the heaters make in every residence hall except Sulz
• Screams and cheering at Midnight Breakfast, Greek Games, Founder’s Day
• Drum music in the Annex Studio for African dance
• Lesbian shower sex noises
• Hava Nagila in the quad on Orgo Night

What are we missing?

 Sweet beard via Wikimedia and Paint