A year ago, Hood College was hit with a storm. It lasted for months and created chaos, with many of students getting pulled into the mayhem. This storm, was not a real storm, it was first year housing.
First-year residence halls are coming up on their first anniversary. The idea received a significant amount of pushback from students after it was announced. It has almost been in place for a year, and Hood College has been changed because of it. Whether or not this change is a good thing still seems to be up in the air.
For me personally, I never thought first-year housing was a good idea and still don’t. As a first-year I appreciated having upperclassmen friends in my building to learn from, and as an upperclassman it was always nice to have an easy opportunity to get to know the freshmen. When I talked to current upperclassmen about the first-year dorms, they seemed to agree.
Many students have expressed their opinions towards this matter throughout the past year.
“One of the things that initially drew me to Hood was the sense of community, and I think that [before] that expanded to all different classes,” said Sophie Smith, a junior. “I think that the freshman housing kind of made it more divisive in terms of cohesion among all Hood students.”
Many of the older students on campus acknowledged that there are some good things about the freshmen dorms, but overall do not like them.
“I think there is some positive things, like being able to bring tutors into the buildings two days a week, and I think now there is a better sense of community with the freshman,” said Afton Woodring, a junior and resident assistant in Smith Hall. “But I think the problem is that unless you’re a freshman athlete, or you are out-going, you don’t get to interact with upperclassmen.”
Kerry Murphy, a sophomore, living in the freshman dorms rooms with a first year, preferred when the dorms were integrated. She stated she doesn’t see a lot of the first-years, but does think they have all bonded. “I see a lot of freshman becoming friends with other freshman, which I guess is the whole point,” Murphy said.
“I think putting freshman in with upperclassmen is so much better,” Murphy said, “because the upperclassmen can help you find your way around and not be that freshman. And it makes friendships that you probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
For many upperclassmen, a negative impact of the first-year housing is the fact that the freshmen students do not live with more mature students, and so they get stuck in high school habits.
“It seems like first-year housing doesn’t allow for residents to mature when they are only surrounded by their peers, instead of by their mentors,” said Frances Morgan, a sophomore. “The resulting environment is just an extension of high school, instead of a more serious academic setting.”
The first-years about their opinions on the freshmen-only dorms, they mostly seemed to agree with Morgan’s point about the negative impact on not having older students around.
“Living with freshmen, there is no one there to keep them in check or to keep them from doing dumb stuff,” said Paul Downs Jr., a Memorial resident. “When you live with older people, you mature up, because older people are not afraid to come at you.”
Kaitlin Marutani, another first-year, agreed, “I think if there was more upperclassmen mixed into it then maybe some freshman could get advice from then that they couldn’t get from people who don’t have those experiences.”
Another problem first years cited was drama among the freshmen, exacerbated by the first-year residence halls.
“It’s not that I don’t like [first-year dorms], but we’re separated,” said Shawn Barnes, a first-year resident of Smith. “So when we’re separated, and it’s just a bunch of freshman, there is more drama.”
However, while many freshmen did cite things they do not like about freshmen dorms, not all of them think the dorms were a bad idea. Christopher Lafontant, a freshmen Memorial resident, said he thinks the first-year dorms are great.
Lafontant said: “I actually think it’s a very well thought out plan to put all the freshman together, because a lot of people when they first come to college are kind of a little nervous. When they’re around people their own age, they can basically be comfortable. When I first moved into Memorial, it was kind of easier to relate to people, because we were all talking about high school and prom and all this other stuff.”
“I think one of the pros about it is having all the freshman together,” Marutani agreed, “since it’s a new experience for everyone and you can experience it with people who are kind of going through the same things.”
Overall, it seems like freshmen have mixed feelings on the dorms. Many of the first-years thought there were good and bad parts about the decision. Most expressed preferring having dorms the way they used to be would probably be better.
“It kinda stinks because I have a lot of friends that are upperclassmen,” said Samy Brandt, a freshman who lives in Memorial, “but it’s also nice because we have just freshman activities. I can see the positive in it, but I just kinda wish that it was more integrated.”
Professors also stated they have not seen an impact on the students as a result of the first-year dorms.
Dr. Van Winter said, “I’ve been positively impressed with this year’s freshman class. I was also positively impressed with last year’s as well.”
“A part of me likes it, but most of me hates it,” Downs Jr. said. “A lot of freshmen don’t have upperclassmen friends, and that’s sad, cause you kinda need people to guide you. Hood is a small community, and if it wants to be in unison, it has to go back.”
In general, the verdict seems to be, everything is okay. However, while there are some positive aspects to the first-year dorms, it also seems to have caused a divide on campus. For instance, finding first-years to talk to for this article was not easy, simply because as a senior I barely know any freshmen. A year later, and I’m still not entirely sure why this had to happen. I don’t think I am alone.
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