Castle committee to start next week

The committee that will set up guidelines for next year's "Community Service House" in the Castle will begin work early next week, administrators said yesterday. Academic Programs and Residences Director Chris Dennis, who will form and chair the committee, said yesterday that possible committee members will be notified by Monday afternoon, and will begin to discuss the objectives of the living-learning program soon after. Dennis said he has not yet set a specific deadline for the six-member group's plan. The committee is forming as a part of President Sheldon Hackney's plan for the Castle. Hackney decided Wednesday that the house will be the home of graduate and undergraduate students interested in community service. The advisory group will determine the living-learning program's guidelines and criteria for residence in the Locust Walk building. Dennis, who oversees the current living-learning programs, said the committee's members will be students, staff and faculty members involved with community service and residence programs, as well as those who can assist with the logistics of running a Community Service House. He said the group will provide only general guidelines for the house, stressing that he does not want to "overdetermine what those people will do." "We hope to set up general guidelines which might be consistent with living-learning programs we already have on campus," Dennis said. Dennis also said that interested students who have already committed to on-campus housing contracts will not be fined for choosing the new program instead. College Vice Dean Ira Harkavy, who will be a member of the advisory board, said last night he wants the Castle's new residents to participate in current service programs and explore better ways to contribute to the community as well. "What's most important is the learning opportunity," Harkavy said. "[The house] should fulfill the promise of all American Universities to further the advancement of knowledge for the sake of service to society." Harkavy, who directs the West Philadelphia Improvement Corps and is a vocal proponent of community service, added that a goal of the committee will be to ensure an "integrated" group moves into the Castle. "It should represent a diversity of ideas," he said. "It should represent not just what Locust Walk should be, but what the entire University should be." Dennis would not say who else will serve on the committee. The Castle, which is the only vacant building in the center of campus, has been empty since May when the Psi Upsilon fraternity was kicked off campus for the January kidnapping of a Delta Psi fraternity brother. Associate Director of Residential Maintenance Alan Zuino said this week the University will have to repair parts of the house before students can live there next fall. He also said residential maintenance will install security measures. Zuino did not know how much money the renovations will cost, or when the work would start, but said the house will be ready before students move in in September.