On a drizzly day last month, the Indiana Daily Student bid farewell to its beloved newsroom in Ernie Pyle Hall. As a former IDSer, I felt obligated to capture the move. I spent a majority of my college years in that building – specifically in that newsroom – as a student in Indiana University’s School of Journalism Media School. I wouldn’t be where I’m at today had it not been for the experiences I had within those walls. It’s crazy to consider I grew up in a one stoplight town of 2,300 people in rural Indiana and in the past couple months I’ve made pictures for The New York Times and The Washington Post. Before I moved back to Bloomington in 2014, Ernie Pyle Hall was always one of my first stops on visits to Bloomington. It was home. I knew I could walk in there and see old friends and familiar spaces. IU is a large university, but Ernie Pyle Hall made it feel like a small, intimate school. Change is hard sometimes, but I’m optimistic the move to Franklin Hall will work out eventually. I hope the intimate and inclusive feeling of Ernie Pyle Hall endures at Franklin Hall. Maybe someday a former student will wax nostalgic about that building too.
