The Atlas Obscura Podcast · Thursday, September 10, 2026
The tradition of visiting the Sul Ross Desk and leaving a mark continues with current freshmen at Sul Ross State University. As a welcome activity, new students hike to the desk and sign a notebook, demonstrating that even in the age of cell phones, people seek opportunities to detach and reflect.
“The current notebook, it's actually really nice because it was taken up there by our most recent freshman. Like one of their welcome activities as they went on a hike up to the desk and brought their own notebook and like that group of freshmen signed the notebook altogether.”
“Like warm fuzzies. Even in an age of like, having constantly like our cell phones with us. People are still actively and frequently going up there to, like, detach, sit on the desk and write whatever comes to their mind. And it's beautiful to see how that humanity hasn't changed over the last 30, 40 years.”