Alcove

The Alcove is the most recent traditionalist group that can be found at Lancaster. It is the result of a series of evolutions and mergers between LLRT, Digiclan, and the Eishans, and the name came about in 2001. The Alcove always welcomes any newcomers, whether they are squirrels or nomores. Nonetheless, some students dislike the existence of the Alcove; this led to assorted disputes during LAN.04.1 and LAN.06.1, and likely other sessions.

Generally speaking, the Alcovians are the ones who hold all the traditional "positions" at Lancaster (see the Lancaster site page for a list). They are usually the first to run up to the speakers when a Canon song is heard at a dance, and they are often the ones who know all the traditions (hence statement one of this paragraph). Alcovians also generally make up a large portion of the student population at Acting Improv, and are the originators of many inside jokes. The cast of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Second Saturday is often entirely Alcovian as well.

The Alcove has been known to gather in certain areas at certain times to discuss certain things, sometimes involving T-shirts. The general meeting place is often in Schnader 1 lounge, near the Electric Tree, or sometimes Atlee/Dubbs2 lounge. Thomas, while acting as a previous hub, remains relatively empty, as it is the new office of the administrative staff.

The Alcove, much like LLRT's Land of the Large Round Tables, is also a specific dining room area. It is located in the far corner of what used to be Dining Hall 1 in a small, rounded room. This room has taller tables, different colored walls, and is very different then much of the rest of Dining Hall 1. It is usually quite lively, and has actually been singled out by RAs for failure to clean up, sitting on counters, and general rowdiness. It has odd-looking lights and a window looking out to the parking lot behind South Ben and is, in itself, an inefficient design, but we love it anyway. In the mornings, when the Alcove and Dining Room 1 are closed, the Alcove is known to sit in the entrance to the dining room on both sides.

Science may be described as the art of systematic over-simplification. The Alcove (no longer in Exile) is located here.

Recent History

The Alcove has existed for a period of time longer than any other Lancastrian student group. The Alcove of Second Session, much like the LLRT, experienced two generations by its eighth year in 2008. The first generation ended while the Alcove went into Exile while the Dining Hall completed its renovation. This first generation had a member demographic notably different from the successive generation and was essentially a separate social circle. Perhaps as a result of its Exile and the conjugal loss of a findable location, the Alcove became very exclusive and limited in size. It was criticized, notably by Michael Nixon, then-Devil, but also by various Anti-Alcove groups, for having become too elitist. The second generation of the Alcove, beginning in 2005, once more returned to being an open group of friends who happened to embrace tradition (as noted by their reunion zeal). Especially after 2005, the Alcove expanded rapidly, peaking at some 70 members in 2007 (the previous Alcove peaked at less than 40 members), and its new members remembered only the "new leadership," beginning Will Colmer and Michael Nixon.

In 07.2, the southernmost section of the Dining Hall was sealed off for Kosherization. As such, the Alcove became unreachable. Alcovians met at meals in the corner of Dining Hall 2. The death of the Alcove gave rise to a mourning session and the 2007 T-shirt. Among other things, Alcovians considered relocation and renaming (to things such as the Kalcove (Kosher-Alcover), the Nalcove (not-Alcove or new-Alcove), or something else). In 2008, it turned out that "something else," namely, returning to the reopened Alcove, was the best option. Due to the bulk of members, the Alcove in 2008 became socially segmented into a further two or three socially separate groups, although by 2009, due to the loss of so many nomores, the divisions largely massed into a single Alcove again.

On the other hand, the First Session Alcove experienced three generations in this timeframe. Because the Anti-Alcove groups were much more prominent during First Session, notably in 04.1 and 06.1, the second generation Alcove, beginning in the same year as that of Second Session, ended prematurely after 2006. Although some individuals recalled past Alcovians, much of this memory and the "lineage" of positions (fewer than Session 2 has) was lost. Thus, the Session 1 Alcove began its third generation in 2007, as evidenced by the creation of the Trinity. This Alcove continues to be largely unified.

Thus it is said that over the many years of its existence that the Alcove has become very different in the first and second sessions. In their traditions, the first session lacks Monty Python Madness, their canon, second session has kept Rock Lobster while first session gained Dr. Mario Dance, their personality, second session is generally considered the rowdier, and more incestuous, three weeks, and in their positions, the different first and second trinities. Most noticeably, the pair of Alcoves differs in organization. While the first session is a very cohesive singular group, which has been likened to a star with a large asteroid belt, second session is more like a solar system with many larger planets with many moons. This Alcove is more fractured and can be considered more inclusive, but is normally larger.

The Alcove also once boasted a sign hanging outside that says "Game Corner," which inspired the original 06.2 t-shirt. In 2006, it also has many food-based posters, which inspired the following inside joke:

ALL HAIL THE ISLAND COCONUT CHICKEN!!!

These posters were replaced with posters espousing the values of veganism, organic, kosher, etc. when KiVO was born in 08.1.

Anti-Alcove

In 04.1, a group of people was formed who were opposed to the idea of having a unified group at Lancaster (The Alcove) that seemed to have "control over tradition" and were too exclusive. They disrupted traditional activities, such as interrupting "Oh L'Amour" by running onto the pavement and doing the chicken dance where people were sitting. They also started the practice of going into the centers of the circles formed for all the slow Canon songs, a practice that has largely died out with their group.

The Alcove, in response to the allegations made by the Anti-Alcove, discussed the situation, both among themselves and at an activity period which was open to all. Many people agreed that the Alcove seemed to be exclusive, though most still did not agree with how the Anti-Alcove handled their grievances. The acts of the Anti-Alcove and their general existence is one of the reasons why the Alcove was not as prominent in 05.1 and 06.1 and is also thought to be one of the things that changed Session One so much from Session Two.

Anti-Alcoves have also existed during 06.1, 08.1, and 08.2, although these groups were not as prominent as the original.

Teh Corner

Teh Corner was first inhabited and recognized at Lancaster in 05.1 and consists of a circular table booth adjacent to the Alcove. The "Teh" in its name was intentionally created by Nathan (whose last name escapes me) and is not a misspelling.

People who sat at Teh Corner do not consider themselves a group like the Alcove. Teh Corner refers to the actual location; those that sit there often consider themselves Alcovians, or are unwitting non-Alcovians who quickly get sucked in. They choose to sit at Teh Corner due to its more intimate feel than the Alcove, as it is one central table as opposed to many smaller ones (although in 08.2 some people took to pushing tables together in the Alcove to form one larger one). Teh Corner was often crammed with nine or more people sitting on each others laps, or up above Teh Corner's booth, adopting the catch phrase "There's always room at Teh Corner," though RAs disapproved due to the PDA that occurred.

Originally, "Teh Corner" served as the gathering place of the Greeklings, but as they made friends, the ranks swelled until additional tables were dragged over to increase the carrying capacity of Teh Corner, much to the dismay of RAs and SRAs who enforced the no-moving-furniture policy.

Teh Corner has a reputation as being incredibly noisy, often staging sing-a-longs. In 06.1, this caused a significant amount of strife as the site leaders ate their meals adjacent to Teh Corner. This prompted a crack-down on the moving furniture rules, despite the fact that the tables were always returned to their positions after meals, and limits on the number of people who could be squeezed into Teh Corner. Nevertheless, these rules were rarely followed.

In fact, it is frequently said that the Alcove died for Session 1 in 05.1, and Teh Corner was born (out of the remains of the Alcove). The 06.1 "Alcove Shirt" is a diagram of Teh Corner.

Even during Second Sessions, some Alcovians choose to sit outside the actual Alcove (which can hardly fit its bulging populace), tending instead to squeeze into this built-in table and semi-circular seat right outside, dubbed "the Corner." While its location is the same as that of Teh Corner, it is spelled slightly differently. "The Corner" is also commonly referred to as "Alcove overflow" and has grown to encompass the selection of small tables between the corner and the alcove.

The Booth

The Booth is the booth on the opposite side of the corner.

The Land of the Large Round Tables

The Land of the Large Round Tables is the dining room diametrically opposite the Alcove, found by strafing far to the right upon entering the dining hall. This was the former home of LLRT, but was closed sometime in the early 2000's. In 2009, due to an increase in site population, some Alcovians, most noticeably three or more members of the Trinity, chose to sit in this dining area instead of the Alcove. In the LLRT, the tables are larger and can hold many more people then the small Alcovian tables, which promotes greater discussion as well as greater tossing of duct tape and salt shakers. Since 2007, this has been the location of the Last Supper, which was previously held in the dining room entrance area.