Williams students are celebrating an early holiday surprise with the announcement of something very exciting: a Lego set modeled after their very own Frosh Quad! Many are clueless as to why the worldwide toy-making giant would produce a set based on a freshman dormitory at a small liberal arts college in western Massachusetts, but we spoke to the woman who was behind it all.
“If tuition rates go up next semester, I wouldn’t be surprised” said president Maud Mandel, “It was incredibly expensive getting Lego to put their projects on hold to invent a Frosh Quad set ready for distribution by gift-shopping season. I think it was the right decision though––these poor kids had to say goodbye to Williamstown so early! I can only imagine how much brighter the holiday season will be for the students if they can throw a Sager from the comfort of their own home.”
Maud let us in on a secret: she hatched this plan early in the school year, and was able to have a Lego designer come from Austria and pose as a language TA while he did undercover research on Frosh Quad. Lucas Fischer, Lego Master Builder, was happy to chat with us now that the project has been unveiled. “I had a really lovely time learning about all the quirks of Frosh Quad, as well as the culture of the students who reside there. I’d say my biggest challenges in designing the building were figuring out how to make Lego TikTok lights to line the ceilings of the common rooms and constructing a Lego Spikeball set.”
The set includes either Sage or Willy, so it’s a 50/50 chance whether the box you get will have nice hardwood floors or sticky linoleum. Six minifigures are included in the box, each with a unique Williams-spirit-wear-athleisure-chic-inspired outfit. The instruction booklet states that only one of them is allowed to be gay. The basic set includes a 30 rack of Natty Light, but if you get all your friends to venmo you an extra $2, the set will have two cases of White Claws instead. Masks are not included.
Fischer had two residents of Frosh Quad test drive the set and give their thoughts. Jaxon Wilson ‘24 was very pleased with the accuracy of the set, “the scattered Psych 101 notes in the croom were a great touch that made the set feel like home. I was also amazed at how the pong cups were a little bit moldy. They didn’t miss a detail!” Wilson’s podmate Audrey McKenna ‘24 was also impressed with the set. “I thought the fact that 80% of the crooms don’t have tables was really brilliant! Plus, 60% of the 80% of rooms with tables didn’t have Williams-issued tables, but rather AmazonBasics line pong tables. The 36 year old Austrian TA that was for some reason at all my parties now makes sense; he needed to do a lot of research to get this kind of accuracy!”
The Frosh Quad Lego set will be at a Target near you this Black Friday; it’s expected to fly off the shelves in Connecticut, the greater Boston area, and Upper Manhattan, so don’t miss it!
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