A Student Spent a Year Living in a Yale Ventilation Shaft

One guy set up a tent in the hills close to campus, and there were several students who couldn't afford housing and "lived" in the student lounges while taking showers in the recreation center. But this account of Allan Kornfeld, who spent 1963 and 1964 living in a Yale ventilation shaft, is the closest Lazlo Hollyfeld's covert hideout in the venerable 1985 film Real Genius.

For this one, let's go way back to 1964, when it seemed like student housing was just as problematic as it is today. In this instance, a Yale University student had been residing in a ventilation shaft at the institution for the full seven months. Wallpaper with a brick design was employed by Allan Kornfeld to conceal his entrance. He used an electric blanket to keep warm during the cold. His residence was a four-foot-wide, 40-foot-long air tunnel with a ten-foot ceiling that provided ventilation for squash courts.

His tuition covered meals, but it didn't cover accommodation, and he didn't have enough money to rent a room on his own. As a result, he ate on campus. He had a mailing address away from campus and had buddies answer any phone calls for him.