Administrators will decide this quarter whether next year’s incoming class will have an additional all-freshman housing option in one of the larger North Campus dorms.
Associated Student Government senators will vote on a bill Wednesday night calling upon the Undergraduate Housing Office to expand the all-freshman housing experiment currently at North campus dorms Hinman House and 600 Lincoln. The 86-person complex was converted to an all-freshman residence hall this year, said Mark D’Arienzo, associate director of university housing.
Mary Goldenberg, senior associate director of residential life, wrote in an e-mail to The Daily that the University Housing and Food Policy Advisory Committee will be meeting with residents of the all-freshman residence in the next few weeks to evaluate the success of the dorm.
According to D’Arienzo, the committee, which includes some ASG senators, will decide whether to recommend the creation of a larger all-freshman dorm in time for students to make housing arrangements. The committee’s recommendation will go to Vice President for Student Affairs WIlliam Banis, who will make the final decision.
D’Arienzo said the change in Hinman House and 600 Lincoln affected about 12 to 16 upperclassmen who lived there last year.
“Overall Hinman-Lincoln was not overpopulated by upperclassmen anyway, and they were absorbed elsewhere within the system,” D’Arienzo said. “A larger building would have different ramifications.”
Weinberg sophomore Dan Broadwell, a Foster-Walker senator and co-author of the ASG housing bill, said he would like to see the experiment expanded to encompass a greater percentage of the freshman class. He said he hopes expansion of the program will foster a sense of community among freshmen.
Brandon Ray, a resident assistant at Hinman House and 600 Lincoln, said dorm residents enjoy living with all freshmen. The dorm was one of the most social places on campus during New Student Week, he said.
“Often when you have mixed-class halls, the sophomores or juniors already have their set plan, and they may not interact as much,” said Ray, a Weinberg junior. “I think the fact that they were freshmen together really helped because they could bond over the initial trials of coming to college together.”
Lindsay Dudley, a Weinberg freshman who lives in 600 Lincoln, said she supports expanding all-freshman housing to include a larger dorm, although she said she sees the benefit of living with upperclassmen as well.
“I feel like I can relate to the people in this dorm because we’re all the same age and in the same classes,” Dudley said. “But the people who live in other dorms can go to upperclassmen for homework help and advice.”
Phil Suh, a McCormick freshman, said he doesn’t think Hinman House and 600 Lincoln can be compared to larger dorms. The small size, he said, makes the dorm somewhat of an anomaly. Suh also said although he likes living in the dorm, the community-feel of Hinman House and 600 Lincoln is not that unusual for a small residence.
“Everyone gets along with one another, but it’s not like we’re a big group and we identify ourselves as the 600 Lincoln crew,” he said.
