New Voices
Photo by Angela Greenroy
The Desk, the journal, the hiker and the view.
THE DESK
by Angela Greenroy
“Isn’t it mystifying up here?” wrote “Mother
Nature’s child” as she gazed over the West Texas
terrain. “I’m so filled with awe and reverence for
this beautiful land. You? O.K, granted people
have so many different reasons to come up here:
to get away from it all and vent frustrations, to
admire, to scoff at life, to rest, to see if there is
actually a desk up here. But whatever your rea-
son, make it positive.”
“U
p here” is a rock outcrop-
ping atop Hancock Hill,
home to a desk. The
Desk is not lovely to look at, but the
landscape is. A chair awaits the hiker.
This sacred place suggests cleaning out
the overcrowded crevices of the mind,
extracting uplifting meditations and
thought-provoking words.
Who was “Mother Nature’s child?”
She was a repeat visitor to Hancock Hill
in the early 90s, but she represents every
student, every local resident and every
tourist who comes to share their
thoughts in the journals of the Desk.
Any person in search of the Desk will
find footsteps leading the way. It is the
route well-traveled.
There are several rumors circulating
around the Sul Ross campus about the
origin of the Desk. Several professors
claim the Desk was there when they
20
came to teach during the early 70s.
Some believe the Desk has been a fix-
ture on top of the hill since the mid- to
late-60s.
Brian Larremore, a campus police
officer and also a past student of Sul
Ross, says his brother helped to bring a
desk up Hancock Hill in the 70s.
But the story found in the Archives of
the Big Bend is the one Dr. Kevin
Urbanczyk, professor of geology,
remembers from the 80s. His classmates
and friends, Jim Kitchen and Bill
Wagner, were the initiators of this idea
and have gone down in the Archives as
such. Jim and Bill, along with Travis
Miller, carried the Desk up the hill. In the
1999 Sul Ross Brand, Jim told a reporter,
“We didn’t have permission, so we took
the desk up at night. There wasn’t much
of a moon, so we couldn’t see the trail by
the Bar SR Bar very well. Bill walked
straight into a yucca. Once we reached
the top, we set it out on the ridge, away
from traffic (hikers).”
Urbanczyk has been a regular visitor
since that time. Today, he acts as faculty
advisor to the Sul Ross Hill Club, keep-
ing the tradition of the Desk and the
journals alive for future generations.
Urbanczyk explains his motives for
doing so: “I’m selfish. I like to go up
Cenizo
First Quarter 2012
there myself.”
Urbanczyk states, speaking of Jim
and Bill, “The Desk was just an exten-
sion of their personas.” Both were rest-
less when inside, and they sought a place
to go when life in the dorms was too
chaotic. Jim Kitchen was a resident assis-
tant at the time, which enabled him to
get his hands on stray pieces of furniture.
The Desk became a study nook for
many a student seeking solitude. And this
is how the journals began. Referring once
again to the article in the 1999 SRSU
Brand, we know that Jim Kitchen left a
notebook in the desk that he planned to
use during his next study period alone on
the hill. He returned to find someone had
written in it, and he wrote back. A friend
quotes him as saying, “It was just an acci-
dent. After that, I decided to leave it in
(the desk) and see the response.” This led
to a random conversation that has
spanned at least 20 years.
The Desk is more than a university
tradition; it’s a continuation of the char-
acter of the Big Bend Country. It’s a
physical object that embodies the people
here. It’s the desire for reclusiveness –
entwined with the longing to connect.
It’s the spirit of academia that is promi-
nent throughout West Texas. It’s the
legacy of Sul Ross State University as
seen in the journals that date back 20
years. It’s the history of Hancock Hill.
Unfortunately, there are many lapses
between journals due to wind and rain,
rodents eating away the pages and people
who could think of nothing to do except
destroy. Some of the journals are missing;
others are incomplete. Pages have been
lost, yet, despite the difficulties, the tradi-
tion remains, and it transcends the imme-
diate area of West Texas.
We can never recover pages from the
past, but the present and the future are
ours for history making. The Desk is an
open door, calling out, “Come and get
away from it all.” The voices in the jour-
nal surround each visitor like a great cloud
of witnesses, testifying to heritage and
extending an invitation to join the choir.
Journal Entries
from the Desk
July 29, 1992: “Certainly I am a
newcomer to this Peak O’Fun – not an
S.R. Student, not even a townie, just an
extended visitor. I’m grateful then for the
introduction to perhaps one of Alpine’s less-
er known spots of true peacefulness. Love –
CPR”
Oct. 11, 1999: “It has been over 12
years now since I came up this hill and
wasn’t sure I could make it but am ecstatic
that I accomplished it. Instead of com-
plaining, I am grateful that I could make it
and that the NOTEBOOK TRADI-
TION is STILL ALIVE. Love to all, Bob
Kim”
Sept. 28, 2002: “The old journal is
gone which saddens me!! I look forward to
reading what I last wrote and compare it to
my life now… I hope to go to the archives
in a few years and be able to recall my youth
in just a few entries. This place captures the
whole of you. – KRAZY”
2002 – No date and written on a
divider: “Shine like a star like the brightness
of heaven. Show others you’re light and
don’t be afraid. Stand tall and bold, don’t
give up. Live up. – Joanna.”
Nov. 27, 2009: “I haven’t hiked up
here in almost 50 years – used to do it daily
since this was our special playground while
our parents were going to school. Oh the
memories!! Thank you for the desk still
being here for all. – Bettie McCauley, Silver
City, NM”
March 2010, unsigned: “It’s NOT
ALWAYS this windy and the grass isn’t
always golden brown – so keep coming back
to the desk, the view, the book of thoughts.”
July 4, 2011: “Texans are crazy! But
your landscape is beautiful. – California”
2011, date unknown: “Life brings you
surprises every day and most of them are
hidden, but if you stop and take in your sur-
roundings and absorb the view, God will
surprise you with what you can do.
Sincerely, Alex, Lauren, and Sharon.”