I recently came across this article in The Daily Pennsylvanian, and I cannot disagree more with the sentiments expressed by the Undergraduate Assembly and College Houses and Academic Services student representatives. I fail to understand why freshmen need to be prevented from living in the high rises, as if living in the high rises were the death knell for a freshman’s college experience. I lived in Harnwell College House for four years as an undergraduate and feel strongly that my experiences as a freshman in Harnwell kept me on-campus for those four years and significantly contributed to my pride as a Penn and Harnwell alumnus.
Living in Harnwell for four years, I came to view my college house as a home away from home. I was not always able to go home for breaks, so I was grateful that my college house remained open and did not force me to find alternative housing during those already sensitive times. Harnwell’s apartment-style living gave me the privacy I needed to do well in my classes. In addition to Harnwell’s plentiful study spaces, I always knew that I had a private room that I could return to without worrying that my roommate might have kicked me out or made the room otherwise inhospitable. I also deeply appreciated having a private bathroom that I did not have to share with a floor or travel to from my room to use. These private accommodations were particularly important for my religious peers who needed a private kitchen to keep kosher and a private bathroom for wudu. Harnwell also had several pianos and music practice rooms that enabled me to pursue my passion for piano as a freshman through the College House Music Program.
The student representatives quoted in the article raised several concerns that freshmen in the high rises are isolated from other freshman. This could not be further from the truth. As a Harnwell freshman, I felt to an allegiance with my fellow high-rise freshmen. I frequently would visit my friends in Harrison’s Freshman Experience residential program and would study with classmates in Rodin. I also had friends in the low rises, making Hamilton Village a welcoming place to return to after a long day’s worth of classes. The Quad and Hill were also such a short distance away that I never felt isolated from other freshmen. In fact, I appreciated being able to visit the freshman-centered houses and return to my high rise, especially when I discovered that Spring Fling took place directly in the Quad (suffice to say, I appreciated Harnwell’s accommodations most during Fling weekend).
I also was able to learn from my upperclassmen. In Harnwell, the freshman floors also house groups of upperclassmen. As a pre-med student, my peers and I appreciated being able to talk to a then-junior, pre-med Biological Basis of Behavior major about what courses to take and how to best prepare for medical school. The upperclassmen on my floor were very welcoming and helped us freshmen explore beyond the Penn bubble and consider ways to make the most of our time at Penn. I do not feel that I would have received similar support if I had lived in Hill or the Quad.
Not everyone (especially not me and several of my high-rise peers) wants this “real college experience” being championed by members of the UA and CHAS. For me, high-rise living was the best fit for my needs and allowed me to make the most of my Penn experience. Now a graduate student at UCLA, I see nowhere near the same cohesion in UCLA’s undergraduate housing as I experienced at Penn, partly due to the inability of freshmen to stay in one house for the entirety of their undergraduate career. I worry that removing freshmen from the high rises leads the college house system down this path and further away from its goal of retaining students through college house pride and loyalty. I feel confident saying that my pride and loyalty to Harnwell rivals that of any Harvard or Yale alum to their respective houses or colleges, and I fully attribute this to being able to live in Harnwell for all four years. Harnwell, known for being the most diverse college house on campus and the college house with the highest four-year retention rate, defined my freshman year and my time at Penn. I hope that my experiences demonstrate how valuable high-rise living can be for a freshman and give pause to reconsider a decision to prevent freshmen from living in Harnwell or any of the highrises.
Jordan Coello is a 2010 College graduate and a four-year alum of Harnwell College House. He is currently a clinical psychology graduate student at UCLA. He can be reached at jordan.coello@alumni.upenn.edu.
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