Dr. Catherine P. Biira

MARY STUART HALL: THE GLORY, THE GLOW, AND THE NETS THAT NEVER GRABBED You know, dating at @Makerere back in the 90s wasn’t for the faint-hearted. It was sport. It was warfare. It was...fishing. You cast your net wide across the seas of @BoxMarystuart, Africa Hall, Complex, hoping to pull in that prized tilapia. But alas, many nights we came back with broken nets and even more broken hearts. My late friend Kenneth Matovu, God rest his sports-writing soul, used to quip while sipping a soda at The Deep in Ntinda, “Has your net grabbed?” - a question that stung deeper than the slap of rejection. Because often, the net hadn’t grabbed. Or it had, and the fish wriggled out mid-celebration. Mary Stuart Hall, ah, “The Boxers” as we called them - Lumumba’s traditional neighbours, partners-in-crime, and objects of relentless ‘visitation.’ Those stairs were the real test of intent. No lift. If she stayed on the fifth floor, and you made it up with your bouquet of half-used jokes, five sumbiz, a soda, and sweet nothings - brother, you deserved an audience, at least. But many times, after all that cardio, the door never opened. Or worse - it did, and you were met with a “My roommate is around.” Typical Dust Binning. And yet still, in the desperation of some evenings, we threw what American Football enthusiasts call a 'Hail Mary' pass. That desperate, last-minute, all-or-nothing attempt to score. Some succeeded. Most woke up with regrets...and hangovers. The lucky ones found themselves nursing them in Mary’s den - with a literal 'Bloody Mary' and a mental note never to try again...until the next weekend. Today, Mary Stuart Hall stands tall again - newly refurbished, glowing like a bride on her Kwanjula. The girls are moving back from @LumumbaHall, and surely, the boys will be heartbroken. Some shared more than corridors. But one thing is certain - Mary is back, beautiful and bold. And somewhere on campus, a new generation of fishers is already mending their nets. Sibyangu, bambi. Sibyangu. Iye. Even my 'Nkru-Cote' friend @Bbosadan913390 knows that. Courtesy video of a glowing Mary Stuart handed over by @NECUPDF to MUK yesterday. #MaryStuartReturns #Boxers #NetCastingSeason #Makerere #LumboxForever #Uganda – at Edison, NJ