Synergy Earthquake Memorial

by Eric Rose & Eric Schwitzgebel, Spring 1992

On Tuesday, October 17, 1989, Synergy residents were preparing a dinner of miso soup and stir-fried zucchini. At 5:04 PM, an earthquake of magnitude 7.1 struck the Bay Area. Residents evacuated the house as the fire alarms blared. It was obvious that the damage was more than cosmetic. The white wooden pillars that stood by the entrance were crooked, and the left wall was leaning out. Inside, the plaster had cracked and fallen in the hallways, and the dining room had dropped two inches. Outside, people sat on the front lawn and down on the grassy field in front of Durand (Synergy's present location). We were given cards to take to food service to eat. Many residents left to stay with friends. The community was quickly fragmenting.

Classes were canceled for the next day. Still in a state of shock, students sat on the front lawn drinking beer and eating leftover snack foods. That night on KZSU University President Donald Kennedy told us that Stanford would be "open for business" the next day (Thursday). Fortunately, many classroom building were still closed. Work and concentration were difficult because of the stress caused by the crisis.

Initially, all of the co-ops except Terra were closed. But as time went on, Theta Chi, Hammarskjold, and Kairos opened again. Synergy, Columbae, and Phi Psi were too badly damaged to reopen. Residents were given half an hour to evacuate belongings from their rooms.

Open co-ops showed their support. Terra gave an all co-op dinner that fed 300 people. Theta Chi converted their TV room into a large crash area. The University was sluggish and unresponsive. Eventually they gave "displaced" residents the Oak Lounge in Tressider for meetings and outgoing phone calls. Loose-knit bands of displaced co-opers struggled to find housing off-campus. The University announced a draw to put homeless students back into student housing by squeezing for more spaces. For most students, the earthquake had been a minor disruption. Many were callous and could not understand our situation.

As time went on, the co-op communities became more and more scattered. Synergites went into five houses off campus, Theta Chi, and Terra. Traditional Thanksgiving dinner was held at the Bechtel International Center, and Theta Chi housed a combined Synergy/Phi Psi Halloween party.

Four co-opers formed a SWOPSI class on co-operatives in the Winter to explore options for the next year. Many were afraid that the University would eliminate Synergy, Columbae, and Phi Psi outright. The class became a focus for rebuilding those communities. A 120-page report produced by the class, Co-operative Living at Stanford, contained co-op history, survey, and ideas for growth and change. Spring outreach went on despite the fact that there were no houses or communities to show. synergy was moved to Grove-Mayfield and Grove-Lasuen houses for 1990-91 until the old house could be repaired. It was a challenge to adapt to a new home.

The struggle continues even today. Students and Alumni fought to save the old Synergy house, which was torn down October 1991. Phi Psi is still standing and its fate remains unclear. California remains in a State of Emergency, two and a half years after the quake.

Throughout the crisis, Stanford showed its inability to make quick decisions. It was clear that the bureaucrats lacked a student perspective. For example, it took hours of arguing to convince Keith Guy that co-op residents relocated to University houses should have the option of declining Food Service. It even took convincing to have cardboard boxes provided to students moving out of their old rooms.

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