International House Berkeley

26 Elliott and Dorelee Castello 1946 - 1952 Elliott Castello I f it hadn't been for I-House, I might have become a lawyer. All of the other law students ate in one corner, but I didn't eat with them. There was the magic of all these different people eating and being together. After having been in the war for four years, it was too much of a temptation, so I didn't eat with the law students. None of the law students would have gone singing after dinner, for example. I finished a year in law school and passed, but I changed to a Master's in Public Policy. There were a lot of people who liked to sing. Our group, The Jahdrools, was only part of it. I think the name must have come from Joe Connell – he was always very funny – or Bob Hacker. I think the name was supposed to sound like "I drool," something funny like that. Hacker was the leader in the quartet, but there were a lot of people who liked to sing in harmony. People would stroll by and join in. There were also big singing groups – people like Joan Obidine. There was also Dave Bishop – he was very good. He was from a wealthy family back East. I don't know what started the singing. There was that post office, which was a great meeting place. Everybody would check their mail every day, so there were always a few people there. And the echo on the tile there was perfect for singing. But I don't know who started it – maybe Bob Hacker. There's a funny story someone told at Doug Powell's memorial. The person remembered that when he first came to I-House, there was a lot of camaraderie. One of his first memories of I-House was of Doug Powell and me in the halls arguing about the words of a cowboy song. He found that very funny. Doug Powell had been in the infantry and had had a lot of experience in the mountains – he loved mountaineering. He was an expert geographer; he knew everything. He would have made a very good professor, but he never finished his dissertation. I first really got to know him when he was going up to the mountains, and he wanted someone to come with him. It was just the two of us the first time – we went skiing at Soda Springs. It was winter, yes, and we were going skiing. Later on, there were other people too who went up to Soda Springs skiing. I-House was wonderful – it was kind of a magical place compared to other places on campus. I still remember Ingrid Borland's re-enactment of Santa Lucia before Christmas. It was especially eerie because she had real candles with flames in her hair.

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