Multi-year houses to alter frosh experience

Administrators hope the plan will foster community spirit and decrease alcohol abuse. It's goodbye to freshman living as we know it. The institution of the college house system next fall will combine undergraduates of all years in an attempt to increase feelings of residential community, ease social adjustment and even lessen freshman alcohol abuse, according to administrators. But some students and faculty say multi-year housing may not be as useful for incoming students as the University's current freshman dormitories. Administrators expect the new residential system, which allows students to apply for residence in any of 12 college houses, to result in multi-year houses within the next few years. In the immediate future, current residential patterns are expected to persist, with the majority of freshman choosing to remain in what are now the main freshman dorms -- the Quadrangle, Hill House and King's Court/English House. But the eventual integration of all classes has lead to concerns among some students and faculty about freshman social interaction in residences. "This is going to be worse for freshman," Nursing freshman Carolyn Otto said. "Living in the Quad and knowing that everyone is a freshman makes it a lot easier to just go up to people and meet them. If you have a lot of upperclassmen on your floor, it will be hard to meet freshmen." Engineering freshman Lawrence McAleer added that freshmen serve as a support system for each other. "It's good for all the freshman to be together because they are all going through the same thing," he said. Microbiology Professor Helen Davies, a senior faculty resident in Spruce Street House in the Quad, said one formula isn't necessarily best for everyone. "I don't think we're going to completely know until we do it," Davies said. "There are going to be first year students who will love having a house with all classes, and there are those who are not going to like it. They'll learn more and they'll experience more, but we don't know if what they'll learn is important." A faculty member connected with the residences who requested anonymity said freshman ought to have the choice of whether or not to live in an all-freshman residence. She added that while the new system of all multi-year houses may help to simplify the opening stages of the residential change, the University should consider adding some all-freshman houses at a later date. Some freshmen who already live in upperclassmen dorms --Esuch as present college houses or the high rises --Eclaim that living with upperclassmen and graduate students is a positive experience. "Multi-year dorms are better," College freshman Eleanor Scott said. "If I lived in a freshman dorm I would probably have all freshman friends. People wouldn't be able to tell me stories of how to get adjusted to college, and this way I am exposed to more people." In Hill House --Ewhich incorporates graduate students and undergraduate peer managers into the atmosphere of a freshman dorm -- older students have been an asset, Hill House Faculty Fellow Roberta Stack said. "The upperclassmen have a great deal to offer just by their presence, and it's not only their presence but their energy, impact, caring, helping and advising -- and its the same for grad students," Stack said. "It's also a two-way street. They get a tremendous amount of energy from the undergraduates." Residential Faculty Chairperson Al Filreis, faculty master of Van Pelt College House, said that since the the new system is flexible and entirely voluntary, freshman will be free to continue to choose housing in the Quad, Hill and King's Court/English House. But Filreis encourages freshmen to be open to the experience of living with students of different ages. He noted that the new residential system will allow freshmen to meet each other, while mixing with other students of varying levels of academic experience. Provost Stanley Chodorow said the new multi-year houses will be better equipped to handle disciplinary problems, such as drinking, on a peer level. He added that the presence of upperclassmen and graduate students alongside freshmen will provide new students with a source of advice and education about the dangers of binge drinking.

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