More Unofficial Campus Tour . . .

East Side

Harper Hall, my former residence, is home to somewhere around 120 people. It's coed and mostly upperclass. Most people draw into the house after their first or second year, so as a result, it's pretty hard to get in if you're just arriving. There are four floors, coed by wing, and a basement with 24 quiet hours. Each wing has about 18 people on it and all of the rooms are singles. If you hate stairs, there's an elevator to get you around. This is put out of commission on the weekends though, to prevent "unfortunate accidents." The rules are a little less strict here, no really official enforced quiet hours. Most people here move in along with friends made in previous years, so it might be a little intimidating trying to fit in with a bunch of people who have already made these close connections. Also, most of the house events are alcoholic, which could suck if you're not into that.

Windsor Hall mirrors Harper, and the buildings are basically the same in terms of layout. However, Windsor is coed by room (though I think some of the floors are all female) and is mostly frosh and second years. There are both single and double rooms, and their single-double rooms are the largest on campus. This is the largest house on campus, with around 150 people, I think. I haven't lived there, but it does boast a wide diversity of people thrown together by chance mostly. Windsor has good house spirit and Jam nights in the house lounge on Wednesdays for all the guitarists, vocalists, etc in the house. It is a frosh house, so be expecting more non-alcoholic events and a push to participate in house events.

Palmer hall is probably one of the oldest residences on campuses. This means that structurally, it looks beautiful from the outside, but it has a lot of electrical, heating and plumbing problems. This is an all-girls res with both doubles and singles. It probably holds more house events than any other on campus. House spirit is a BIG deal, so if you're not a sports fan, you're going to become one. Having lived there, I can say that it makes for a great frosh year. It's the kind of house you'll either love to death or hate more than anything. It's also mostly frosh.

All three residences have indoor access to the cafeteria, Jennings. While I attended Mount A., Jennings was one of two cafeterias on campus and didn't serve hot breakfasts (choices usually included fresh fruit, cereals, pastries and various toasted bread products) but in return, we had a terrific salad and sandwich bar all week long. The caf was one huge open room that is well lit by daylight coming in windows and skylights. However, construction on the new super Jennings in the summer of 99. This newer larger facility now serves all of campus, and you'd have to email my younger sister to get the scoop on how the food service is now.

Trueman is a larger coed house. It is an older building which sits beside the Athletic Hall. The rooms are small, mostly doubles and rather poorly lit. The house arguably enjoys the best house spirit on campus. It is largely frosh. Be prepared to festoon yourself in orange and blue (the house colors) if you go here. They have lots of great parties and the guys and girls there tend to stick up for each other and become good friends. This is the house of "shafts" so you should probably have a good sense of humour to stay here. It's not uncommon to see people's underwear hanging in the foyer or the contents of a double room completely switched so that the person who was on the left side, is now on the right, and vice versa.

Bigelow House - another Coed dorm (by room) relatively small in size. The rooms are mostly doubles, and are pretty small. The dorm was originally built to only serve as a temporary residence, but it hasn't closed yet. This means that the walls are pretty thin (you can hear conversations in the next room) and the facilities kinda suck - the only kitchenette is in the basement, and the laundry machines are stuck under a stairway. My sister has lived there the past two years though, and she loves it. If you're a highly social person, this is probably the place for you. Bonus - there's free pool in the basement.

Bennett House - basically the same as Bigelow. Unfortunately, this is one of the few houses on campus I've never really been in or associated with, so that's all I can say.

Hunton House is an all girls residence on the West Side *duh* which will go co-ed in 2000-2001. Made up of relatively modern doubles and singles, it's another great place to start off your university career (if you're female). These girls are quite popular with the guys on West Side (and even East) but do take a razzing as the "Hunton Heifers." The res is small (probably about 80 or so people) and from what I've seen, pretty friendly.

Edwards house used to be the other upper class residence of choice on Campus. The trend seemed to be changing when I graduated in 99 though. It's a rather maze-like little residence just behind Hunton and across from the football field. Residents of Edwards are as unique as they are diverse. You'll meet everyone from the Carribean exchange student to the Satanist Guitar player here. It's a coed dorm, I think by wing. I'd have to say, that in my own experience, these are some of the more laid-back people on campus.

Thorton House - Testosterone city. This was the only remain bastien of male ego on campus when I arrived, but it turned coed this year. Still a largely male residence facing Edwards, it is the other residence that I haven't really spent much time in.