by Kari Lutes, Features Editor
Housing applications for Aldersgate and Kenyon House are due Mar. 3 and Feb. 24, respectively. Upperclassmen have the option to continue living in traditional dorms or make a move to independent apartment-style living, while underclassmen can choose from the traditional dorms. Here’s a breakdown of what each housing option is like to help students make that crucial decision for Fall 2017.
Aldersgate:
The Aldersgate community is a housing option for upperclassmen with a minimum of 2.5 GPA and the ability to commit to 10 hours of community service.
Laura Sallee, the resident director of Aldersgate, describes the community as “an environment that lends itself to a smooth transition between college and adult life outside of college.”
Apartments:
The Aldersgate Apartments have the option of four or eight person apartments. Each apartment has a kitchen and open living room. The four person apartments have two bedrooms and one bathroom, while the eight person apartments have four bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Resident Assistant of Fisher, senior Adam Burge, moved to Aldersgate after spending a year in Trustees. “I was tired of ‘community’ that involved 30 people,” he said. “It’s so much easier to get to know people [at Aldersgate]. That’s what I wanted, much more intentionality.”
Kenyon House:
Kenyon House is a large house that can hold up to 11 women. The house has a total of three bathrooms—one on each floor—and a shared kitchen and laundry. There are six bedrooms in Kenyon House that can hold anywhere from one to three women depending on the size and location of the room. The housing coordinator, typically a graduate student, also lives on the third floor of Kenyon House.
Like Burge, senior Cynthia Moberly, assistant resident director of Aldersgate, saw Kenyon House as an opportunity for intimate community. However, she also notes that the close community of Kenyon House requires a level of maturity.
“[The problems in the dorms] are concentrated to a smaller area,” Moberly said. “If you’re not good at being a resident in the dorms, then don’t do something like Kenyon House.”
Sarah Johnson:
Sarah Johnson is similar to a traditional dorm hall, but each room has its own bathroom with a shower. The hall has one large living room, and a kitchen with a guest bathroom attached to the laundry.
Sarah Johnson can be seen as a mix between traditional dorms and Aldersgate—a hall community with more independence. The shared washer, dryer and kitchen can come with their own unique set of problems– residents have to wait for the dryer, sink or oven, and if the washer breaks, no one on the hall is able to do their laundry.
Traditional Dorms:
Of the four traditional dorm buildings on campus, Gilde-Crawford, Johnson and Trustees each offer a traditional dormitory hall experience with typically two community bathrooms on each floor; Kresge offers suit-style living with a common area, a kitchen shared by 30 women and bathrooms shared between two rooms.
Kaylyn Moran, resident director of Glide-Crawford sees traditional dorm life as a chance to grow in community. “We definitely face challenges in our community life, but I think for a lot of women they really find folks with whom they connect,” she said. “[Dorm] life is fun because you can usually always find someone to help loft a bed, watch a movie or run into Lex for dinner.”
The hall community is an important part of the traditional dorms. “One benefit of living in Johnson is its competitive nature,” said Bryce Shockley, assistant resident director of Johnson. “Every hall works to make itself the best it can be. From Johnson Christmas party to who can be loudest without waking up Clark’s kids, every hall is constantly up to something.”
The dorms can also come with their own set of challenges, from larger communities and the question of who burned their Easymac to logistics like the walking distance of Kresge from campus or the lack of parking at Glide-Crawford.
Savannah Riley, assistant resident director of Glide-Crawford, sees all these challenges as small when compared to the large community in the dorms. “The microwaves get dirty and the showers get hairy, and hey, the building is super old so it has its quirks,” Riley said, “But it’s 100% worth it to me in the end. I wouldn’t trade my time in GC for anything.”