Bob Evans checked his mailbox every single day during his first two years at Rose-Hulman from 1974-76.
Inside, without fail, waited a letter from Janette—his high-school sweetheart, writing faithfully from home. The routine became sacred: walk to Moench Hall, spin the familiar combination, open that small brass door, and find her handwriting waiting.
More than fifty years later, when Bob, a 1978 mechanical engineering alumnus, learned his original mailbox could be his again, he didn't hesitate. Erik Hayes (BSME, 1997/MSME 2001), vice president of student affairs and dean of students, tracked down Bob's number and then did something more: he tracked down Janette—now Bob’s wife of 49 years— too. Before hand-delivering the mailbox to their Linton, Indiana, home, Hayes invited her to slip one more note inside—just like old times.
Bob opened the little brass door and found a familiar surprise written in Janette’s hand. "I think her letters were a vital link to us staying together," he says now. "She started sending them to me over 50 years ago and evidently it worked because we're still together and not planning on going anywhere." The mailbox sits in his man cave, not far from his 1974 Porsche 914—still wearing its 1978 campus parking sticker. Some memories, it turns out, don't fade. They just find new places to live.
When the 2023 renovation of the Institute's century-old main academic building required their removal, Hayes saw beyond the logistics. He saw an opportunity to preserve something deeper: a tradition that had shaped generations, and a way to sustain another one. Hayes had been working to endow the resident assistants’ annual professional development trip, a cornerstone of Rose-Hulman residence life since the 1970s. "The residence life team is a huge component of what makes residence life special," he says. "I want to do what I can to make sure we preserve that experience for future generations."
His idea was elegant: invite alumni to reclaim their original mailbox with a gift supporting the Residence Life Professional Development Fund. He enlisted the Mobley brothers, Tom and William—craftsmen who have built custom pieces across campus—to transform each mailbox face into a keepsake "box," sheathing it with reclaimed Moench flooring. Many boards still show the nail holes of a century's worth of footsteps.
When the first message went out, Hayes recalls, "Something else magical happened." Requests poured in. Alumni refreshed the online list late into the night, searching for their numbers. "People were excited to get a part of their Rose-Hulman history back," he says. The stories that followed confirmed what he'd hoped: the mailboxes were never just about mail.
Kyle Overmyer (ME, 2009) can still dial his combination by heart. The combination for each mailbox would never change, but would simply be passed onto the next cohort.
Each year after graduation that he returned to campus during Homecoming weekend, Kyle would open "his" box, and leave a few dollars inside—a small gift for the current student to grab something from the nearby vending machines.
When his twin daughters, Charlotte and Bridget, were toddlers, Kyle would lift them up to slide a bill through the slot during family campus visits. Now the mailbox sits in the Overmyers' home office, and the girls tuck notes for their father inside. It doubles as a memory box.
For Kyle's wife and fellow alum, Dianna Artigue Overmyer (BSCHE, 2004/MSCHE, 2009), the connection also runs deep. As a student, she often left notes in the faculty mailbox for her father, Emeritus Professor Ron Artigue—small exchanges that felt like quick hugs between classes. Her acceptance letter as a Sophomore Assistant arrived in her own mailbox. Kyle met his future best man, Tyler Masterson (OE, 2008) when they were assigned as Sophomore Advisors and roommates. Several members of the Overmyers’ wedding party were Rose classmates, woven together through those residence life networks.
So far, over 800 mailboxes have found new homes, helping strengthen the endowment fund. The first 250 boxes carried wood from Moench's oldest floors; as the project grew, so did the generosity. Many alumni gave well above the suggested amount, moved by the chance to hold a piece of their history while helping future students build their own.
Hayes' dedication to the project reflects something fundamental about Rose-Hulman: the belief that the personal touch matters, that every connection counts, that belonging is built one small moment at a time.
In the end, the mailboxes were never just about mail. They were about belonging—to a campus, to a class, to each other. And thanks to a community that still believes in that belonging, the little brass doors from Moench now open onto living rooms and home offices around the world, still doing what they always did: keeping the Rose-Hulman community connected.
Interested in acquiring your campus mailbox? Mailboxes are given as a keepsake gift to alumni and students who donate $500 or more to the Residence Life Professional Development Fund. Over two-thirds of the original 3,000+ mailboxes are still available. Visit rhit.edu/mailbox to learn more. If you cannot remember your mailbox number or have questions, email Erik Hayes at erik.hayes@rhit.edu.