“In August, it was 103 degrees,” says Donna Craft, D.C. (’86), recalling a particularly sweltering day in West Hall. “There were two window unit air conditioners and 200 people. For seven hours a day, we stayed in our seats, and the professors cycled through. To say the least, the experience brought us together.”
Ask any graduate of Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, and they’re likely to have a story like Dr. Craft’s. She’s talking about W210, the large classroom space in Palmer’s West Hall. Since the College purchased the building in 1961, thousands of Palmer students have lived, performed, graduated, and learned in that hallowed space.
Those alumni stories might include early mornings, creaky stairs, small writing surfaces, challenging lectures, and the chorus of clicks from four-color pens. They will also include a smile.
“Those were hard days,” says Dr. Craft. “But looking back, I wouldn’t trade a minute. We were learning so much. With the challenge of the courses we were taking, the room turned a cohort of strangers into friends and colleagues. To this day, I exchange Christmas cards with the people who sat in my section.”
This year, W210 is getting a facelift. Renovations are planned to update technology in the classroom and improve comfort for students and instructors. What won’t change is the spirit of the room. It will always be a space to make memories — a place where Palmer students are challenged, inspired, and brought together.
The Room Where it Happens
“My very first class at Palmer was in W210,” says Carrie Jo Calisesi, D.C. (’11). “I remember being a bit intimidated walking into a room of strangers, not knowing a soul, and trying to understand the nuances of the central nervous system.”
Little did Dr. Calisesi know, some of the most important people in her life were sitting in that room.
Roommates Mike Olson, D.C. (’11) and Brady Pearson, D.C. (’11), shared a small apartment north of campus. Each morning, they’d pile into Dr. Olson’s car, make their way downtown, and hunt for a parking spot on Harrison Street before heading into West Hall, up the creaky wooden stairs to W210, and into their seats at the front right of the room.
Dr. Olson remembers that room as the place where his entire cohort gathered for the first time — as the place where his chiropractic journey took shape. “I can still hear Mr. Chip Morter’s booming greeting,” says Dr. Olson. “Every morning, he’d walk on stage and call out, ‘Morning, doctors!’ His spinal anatomy class was tough. It felt like that experience shaped us and got us ready for everything that came after. It all happened in W210.”
For Dr. Pearson, Palmer College is synonymous with family. His time on campus was defined by close personal connections that have gone on to shape his life, both personally and professionally. “Mike and I had a study group, and there were 10 or 15 of us that were especially close,” he remembers. “Carrie Jo became part of that group. As our time at Palmer went on, we started dating and eventually got married. We went into that room as strangers and left Palmer with a bond that will last forever.”
Doctors Pearson and Calisesi remain happily married and work together at Calisesi Chiropractic in Fort Dodge, IA. Dr. Olson practices at Bigfork Valley Hospital in northern Minnesota, where he was hired to implement the first chiropractic department within the hospital. The three remain great friends.
“Dr. Olson is one of our closest family friends,” says Dr. Calisesi. “We plan family trips, and all our children get together, too. We’re also close professionally — as we are with many people from our class. It’s a network where you can always pick up the phone and get answers and exchange information. The amazing education and the amazing people are both part of The Palmer Experience.”
For Palmer students, W210 has always been more than the sum of its parts. Each student who has sat in those rows is a part of the room’s history, which extends back further than many alumni might realize.
Feeling History in the Walls
The year is 1961. John F. Kennedy is president, Patsy Cline is topping the charts, and the Immaculate Conception Academy in Davenport has a building for sale. Palmer College purchased West Hall that year and converted the space into a men’s dormitory and classroom.
The iconic building has anchored the Main Campus ever since. “With seats for 535 people, W210 was, at the time, one of the premiere theaters in the city,” says Roger Hynes, D.C. (’98), professor of clinical sciences and director of the Palmer Foundation for Chiropractic History. “Until 1975, Palmer held graduations in that room. It’s hard to imagine how many brilliant chiropractors have lectured from that stage and sat in those chairs.”
For more than 60 years, W210 has been Palmer’s largest classroom. For a time, it was known as the “Hall of Presidents,” as the walls were graced by the portraits of every Palmer president. Like West Hall itself (which dates to 1878), the room exudes history.
“Palmer takes its tradition very seriously,” said Dr. Hynes. “When we renovated W216 in the same building, we made sure that the room retained its historical feel. Palmer will always be the first and most historically significant chiropractic college in the world. Architecture is one way we honor and preserve that legacy.”
Making History Every Day
History matters at Palmer. So does student success.
That’s why renovations to W210 will retain the room’s historical cues while improving the comfort and capabilities of the space. Renovations will be comprehensive, including new windows, comfortable seating, appropriate lighting, and cutting-edge audiovisual equipment. A key feature will be a top-of-class 30,000-lumen projector, allowing lecturers to display clear images and video to students.
It will be a far cry from the transparency slides that many alumni will remember.
The space will be enlarged to accommodate as many as 300 students, and will include standing desks lining the back. As a nod to the historical style of West Hall, a large section of architectural brick will be exposed in the back of the room. Demolition in the space has already begun, and the room will be ready for classes before July 1, 2025.
“As the renderings make clear, this is going to be another iconic and inviting space at Palmer College,” says Dennis Marchiori, D.C., Ph.D., (’90) chancellor and CEO. “It will always be a place where students are challenged to be their best, but it can also be comfortable and have advanced tools. W210 has long been this crucible where so many future chiropractors have been shaped.”
And no matter the change to bricks and mortar, that rite of passage will not be changing anytime soon.
