While students struggle with the combinations for their new mailboxes in J. Walter Wilson, University officials are figuring out what to do with the old mailboxes in Faunce House.
The mailboxes, which were installed in 1952, are pieces of Brown's history that hold sentimental value for Brown alums, said Elizabeth Gentry, assistant vice president of financial and administrative services. Administrators are considering selling the boxes to alumni instead of simply discarding them, she said.
Gentry said she recalled watching a mother leading her daughter through the Faunce mailboxes last semester in search of her old mailbox. "For some people, the mailboxes are very special - they are part of their history at college," she added.
Gentry initially brought the idea of marketing the old mailboxes as a fundraising idea to administrators at Alumni Relations, who turned down the project.
She next approached Brown Bookstore Director Manuel Cunard, who she said had worked on similar programs at other colleges.
"Some of those boxes used to belong to some really interesting people - it would be fun to see who had used the boxes in the past, to offer alumni their old school mailboxes," Cunard said.
The project is in its early stages and does not have a deadline for sale.
Facilities Management is still assessing the cost of dismantling the mailboxes in Faunce, while Bookstore staffers are brainstorming ways to distribute and clean the mailboxes, Gentry said.
