The former Zeta Beta Tau fraternity house, currently known as the Stouffer College House Annex, will be converted into a community service-based college house starting in the Fall of 2005.
The Franklin Community House --the official name for the new program -- will offer students the opportunity to participate in various community service and cross-cultural events.
Yesterday student leaders and those interested in the program gathered informally to discuss their ideas for the house, and to determine the role they would like it to play in the College House system.
In order to live in the house -- which will be open to all students except incoming freshmen -- students must complete an application and enroll in an academic community-based course in the fall semester, the curriculum for which has not yet been finalized.
Those involved in the planning process noted that the house is not meant to overburden or pressure students into doing work, but rather designed to give them the tools and resources to complete their own community service projects.
Our goal is to "make sure people are really getting the most out of each other and the program," College junior Farrah Freis said.
"It's more about empowering student to do their own" types of projects than making them do something simply because they will live in the house."
The program seeks to be more active and tight knit than traditional college residential programs, which some say that students use primarily as a way to gain more spacious living areas.
It is important for students to "feel a sense of ownership over the house," College senior Gabriel Mandujano said, adding, the question is "who do we want them to be when they come out?"
In addition to participating in house activities, future residents will also have the opportunity to shape the program's focus and goals.
One of the discussion participants, College junior Jason Oberman, noted that "the whole strength of the program is it can go in any direction."
Freis' summer research and similar work done at the Greenfield Cultural Center sparked the idea for the house.
The house will be considered part of Stouffer College House and will follow College House protocol, including employing a graduate advisor to assist and mentor students.
