CALTECH STUDENT HISTORY NOTES
BLACKER HOUSE
Adapted from the Caltech websiteBlacker House was built with the help of funds donated by Robert Roe Blacker, a trustee of Caltech. Members of Blacker House are referred to as Moles. When the fraternities were dissolved in 1930-31 the members of the PI ALPHA RHO or "Pharos" fraternity (see Fraternities) almost all moved into the Blacker House part of the new south house complex. One of the traditions of Blacker House is the hellride. In a defiant response to the prohibition against playing Ride of the Valkyries, the freshmen living in a part of the house named Hell (so called for its unbearable heat in the summer and cramped quarters) would announce a hellride. They then barricade the hallway and play the "Ride" at high volume, daring the upperclassmen to break in and drag everyone to be drenched in the showers.[11]
Blacker House features halls painted as Heaven and Hell, as well as a small lounge and kitchenette in between them known as Purgatory. Blacker's courtyard formerly featured a habitable treehouse and a giant tire swing, but the tree that bore them was cut down during renovations of the house in the 2005–2006 academic year. Attached to another tree was another wooden swing, but that was cut down in 2019. In another side of the courtyard is a couch swing.
The Blacker House slogan γδβγ mysteriously appears on a camera calibration target on NASA's Curiosity rover. If anyone at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory knows how it got there, they aren't telling. Credit:NASA/JPL The letters of Blacker House are γδβγ (Greek letters for gdbg, or God damn Blacker gang). The story is that in 1978 or 1979, it was popular for Blacker students to climb on top of elevators and ride them. One time, security went inside the elevator looking for the students, who were on top of the elevator. The security muttered, "God damn Blacker gang", and the phrase stuck. Blacker students began signing GDBG or γδβγ on all their pranks. Blacker has also been referred to as the house of fucking geniuses[original research?][citation needed] and the inscription HOFG can be found throughout the tunnels along with γδβγ. In the 1960s the house slogan was "Blacker House for gracious living" which became "the house of gracious living" by the 1990s.[12][failed verification]
Notable alumni include: William Shockley (1932) co-inventor of the transistor and Nobel laureate Walter Munk (1939) oceanographer who determined the reason for the moon's tidal locking with earth; Carver Mead (1956) a key pioneer of modern microelectronics; Kip Thorne (1962) Nobel Laureate and one of the world's leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein's general theory of relativity, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus at Caltech; Michael Aschbacher (1966) an American mathematician best known for his work on finite groups; Joseph Rhodes Jr. (1969, History) Pennsylvanian politician and activist; Joseph Polchinski (1975) known for D-branes in string theory; Zinovy Reichstein (1983, Mathematics) Mathematician, known for introducing the essential dimension; Ian Agol (1992, Mathematics) Mathematician known for work in topology, professor at the University of California, Berkeley; Doris Tsao (1997) – MacArthur Fellow, Neuroscientist, Professor of Biology at Caltech; Po-Shen Loh (2004, Mathematics) Professor of Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, coach of USA International Math Olympiad team.
One of the traditions of Blacker House is the hellride. In a defiant response to the prohibition against playing Ride of the Valkyries, the freshmen living in a part of the house named Hell (so called for its unbearable heat in the summer and cramped quarters) would announce a hellride. They then barricade the hallway and play the "Ride" at high volume, daring the upperclassmen to break in and drag everyone to be drenched in the showers.
Blacker House features halls painted as Heaven and Hell, as well as a small lounge and kitchenette in between them known as Purgatory. Blacker's courtyard formerly featured a habitable treehouse and a giant tire swing, but the tree that bore them was cut down during renovations of the house in the 2005–2006 academic year. Attached to another tree was another wooden swing, but that was cut down in 2019. In another side of the courtyard is a couch swing.
The Blacker House slogan γδβγ mysteriously appears on a camera calibration target on NASA's Curiosity rover. If anyone at the Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory knows how it got there, they aren't telling. Credit:NASA/JPL The letters of Blacker House are γδβγ (Greek letters for gdbg, or God damn Blacker gang). The story is that in 1978 or 1979, it was popular for Blacker students to climb on top of elevators and ride them. One time, security went inside the elevator looking for the students, who were on top of the elevator. The security muttered, "God damn Blacker gang", and the phrase stuck. Blacker students began signing GDBG or γδβγ on all their pranks. Blacker has also been referred to as the house of fucking geniuses[original research?][citation needed] and the inscription HOFG can be found throughout the tunnels along with γδβγ. In the 1960s the house slogan was "Blacker House for gracious living" which became "the house of gracious living" by the 1990s.[12][failed verification] Notable alumni include: William Shockley (1932) co-inventor of the transistor and Nobel laureate Walter Munk (1939) oceanographer who determined the reason for the moon's tidal locking with earth Carver Mead (1956) a key pioneer of modern microelectronics Kip Thorne (1962) Nobel Laureate and one of the world's leading experts on the astrophysical implications of Einstein's general theory of relativity, Richard P. Feynman Professor of Theoretical Physics, Emeritus at Caltech Michael Aschbacher (1966) an American mathematician best known for his work on finite groups Joseph Rhodes Jr. (1969, History) Pennsylvanian politician and activist Joseph Polchinski (1975) known for D-branes in string theory Zinovy Reichstein (1983, Mathematics) Mathematician, known for introducing the essential dimension Ian Agol (1992, Mathematics) Mathematician known for work in topology, professor at the University of California, Berkeley Doris Tsao (1997) – MacArthur Fellow, Neuroscientist, Professor of Biology at Caltech Po-Shen Loh (2004, Mathematics) Professor of Mathematics at Carnegie Mellon University, coach of USA International Math Olympiad team
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A list of most of the Blacker House presidents and resident associates is attached as Appendix B.
Last updated 4/10/04.
Christopher E. Brennen