In September 1958, a new women-only residence hall opened on the University of Miami campus at the corner of Ponce de Leon Boulevard and what later became Stanford Drive. Dubbed the 720 Hall, because of its capacity, the new dorm was state-of-the-art at the time, with The Miami Hurricane reporting on its hotel-like amenities, including direct-dial telephones, spacious lounge, and sundeck.
By 1963, the 720 Hall had acquired a name, Mahoney, after Daniel Mahoney, the then-chair of the University’s Board of Trustees, and was joined by a second, matching residence hall. The adjacent building was later named in honor of Jay F.W. Pearson, the University’s second president.
In the decades since, Mahoney and Pearson, which were made coeducational in the early 1970s and rededicated as residential colleges in the late 1980s, have housed generations of Canes. Within their walls, students formed lifelong friendships, celebrated milestones, and experienced countless community moments.
Now, as the University continues to implement its multiphase housing facilities strategic plan, Mahoney and Pearson will be demolished this summer. Earlier this month, alumni, students, and student affairs leadership gathered in the lobbies for a fond farewell to the two residential colleges.
Two current seniors, Eden Westerman and Ethan Tieu, set the tone for the evening.
Westerman, who served as a residential advisor (RA) at Pearson, recounted her first day on campus. “I remember it like it was yesterday, walking through those Pearson doors for the very first time as a freshman, feeling overwhelmed, excited, and filled with so much happiness,” she said. “For the past four years, these walls have held some of the most defining moments of my life.”
Tieu, who has served as a first-year fellow in Mahoney for the past three years, remarked that “a lot of my campus friends have come from this building [and] a lot of my connections with faculty have come from this building. This place is will always be special, and it will live on with us.”
Alumni at the event included Danielle Busson McDonald and her husband, Earle McDonald, who met in Mahoney in 1990, on “my first day,” Danielle McDonald noted.
On Danielle McDonald’s first day as an RA at the beginning of her junior year, Hurricane Andrew struck South Florida, an experience that taught her quickly about being a leader. She also navigated some personal tragedies with the help of University student affairs and housing staff, including Pat Whitely, now senior vice president for student affairs and alumni engagement.
“I was an RA for two years, and people started talking to me about the field of student affairs,” she recalled. “I knew that college had changed my life, and it was residence life that contributed to that, and I wanted to be a part of that.” Now, after 30 years in the profession and having earned her doctorate, Danielle McDonald is associate vice president and dean of students at the University of South Florida. “All of that was [down to] Pat Whitely training us up,” she added.
Earle McDonald also served as an RA in Mahoney. He, too, shared vivid memories of Hurricane Andrew, and how the building started to sway back and forth. Nevertheless, in “the four years I worked at Mahoney, I made lifelong friends. Three of them were groomsmen at our wedding. And the experience of being an RA and learning about community and getting involved with other people when they’re celebrating victories and when they’re having problems is everything that life is all about,” he said.
Alumnus Seth Levine, a quadruple Cane who is now senior lecturer in accounting at Miami Herbert Business School and a faculty fellow at Mahoney, recalled the transition of Mahoney and Pearson to residential colleges, which led to faculty becoming residents. “I want to honor all those who have come before us, and especially the faculty, because had that never happened, we never would have had those rich experiences of the academic and the student affairs staff working together to create a living, learning environment,” he said.
Double Cane Richard Sobaram, associate vice president of student affairs for housing strategic initiatives, shared memories as a resident of Pearson in the late 1980s, a time when the Miami Hurricanes were winning national championships. “Some of us will be a little bit nostalgic or even sad when you think about this building going down,” he reflected. “But let's not think about this. Just think about how grateful we are for the time we spent here, for the experiences we had, for the friendship we made, [and] for how much we have grown through our time here.”
