La Salle Oddity

By Mark Costello
Collegian Editor
November 8, 2006

You walk past it practically every day, but unless you have a reason to, you’re probably never even give McShain Hall a passing glance. It’s that squat, red-brick building on the east side of the Quad, the one with a big stained-glass cross above the entrance.

The same man that built McShain Hall built the Pentagon - Mike Dao

It’s in between the Administration Building and the Union, a stone’s throw from Wister, and for the longest time, kept a watchful eye on the Creepy Statue [formerly] on the Quad.

So, what goes on in this building? Rumor has it that Lasallian operatives meet there, in the depths of McShain Hall, day in and day out, hatching plans to increase Lasallian intelligence and keeping our country safe.

Scratch that, that’s architect John McShain’s other project: Washington, D.C.’s Pentagon building.

McShain was a Philadelphian boy and a Lasallian graduate, class of 1917. After leaving the University, McShain went on to become the so-called “Man that Built Washington,” working on such monumental projects as the Pentagon building, the Jefferson Monument, the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and extensively ren- ovating the White House.

And yes, that building that gives the Quad its fourth wall was built by La Salle’s own McShain. It doesn’t house secret operative meetings, but the University Honors Program calls it home. And it isn’t a national Catholic monument, but it does house the Religion Department, not to mention the Counseling Center.

So next time you pass by that hallowed hall named for a Philadelphian of great stature, doff your cap and show some respect. Not every campus has something in common with the Pentagon.

costellom4@lasalle.edu