The New York Times has a story on the prestige of occupying a residence hall room that was once the home to someone notable. (Perhaps he or she wasn’t notable at the time, but went on to accomplish great–or notorious?–things.)
What famous persons have lived on your campus? Does your institution make the students now occupying those rooms aware of that?
…well, actually you weren’t asking. No one’s asked about this. But I think it’s interesting anyway. During the 1970s and in 1980, the ACUHO-I president would write letters to the membership called Prez-O-Grams. These seem to have been produced once or twice a year.
The Prez-O-Grams were two to six pages long and type-written. In their earlier days, the Prez-O-Grams were compilations of members’ experiences and practices with their jobs. By the last letter, produced in 1980, the Prez-O-Gram was filled with association information, about the annual conference, legislative issues and other initiatives.
The name reminds me of a Cold War-era patriotic snack for children. That aside, these papers are an interesting way to get a feel for that president’s “voice,” and the issues of the time.
The 1971 Prez-O-Gram has anecdotes on student attitudes: “From the Northeastern region comes some indication that, while no group disturbances have occurred, there are signs of tension and anxiety among individual students, with one threatening another and ensuing fights…Personnel in the upper Midwest region note a possible increase in students’ concern with themselves as opposed to social issues, asking ‘Who am I,” and ‘Where do I want to go?’ A new interest in growth group participation is reported.”
The letter goes on to discuss co-ed halls (and their acceptance or otherwise) and visitation hours, among other items.
I’ve scanned them all for your enjoyment: PrezOGrams.
The Yale Daily News posted pictures of student residences in the late 1800s and early 1900s, juxtaposed with current residences. The older photographs are part of an online exhibition curated by the Yale University Art Gallery. Though the black-and-white pictures don’t allow for a lot of detail, one can see well-appointed rooms with fancy rugs, full bookshelves and framed art on the walls.
Some of the present houses don’t compare so well; despite the color they add to the room, liquor bottles arranged along the mantel don’t have the panache of a well-mounted elk head. However, some of the present rooms look like cozy, comfortable spaces.
As we mentioned earlier in this blog, early residence hall rooms weren’t always so plush. At the first meeting of people who would later form ACUHO-I in 1949, housing directors discussed washers and dryers. Some felt a set was only necessary in women’s housing. Some only provided washers, but not dryers, for men. (Many men would have to share one washer.) I’m still puzzling over what the men did with their damp clothes; it doesn’t sound like a good situation to me.
What were the early residences like at your institution?
A member recently asked this question. I thought it was interesting, and that the answer is too. Hopefully you feel the same.
Does anyone know of any articles or studies as to when/why the lingo changed from dorm to res hall (to living center, etc)?
As far as I know, there aren’t any articles specifically on this (please post in the comments if you know otherwise). However, this is the answer I sent.
Below I pasted the definitions from the online etymology dictionary, to which I’m referring here. (I love the Online Etymology Dictionary, by the way. It is fabulous.)
Basically, “dormitory” comes from the word dormir which means to sleep or to become dormant. I’ve included some related definitions as well; cubicle (derived from a word that meant “to lie down, to bend oneself”), was the space in which someone slept in the dormitory. The word “cemetery” was derived from words related to dormitory, as it is a “sleeping place.”
The references to folding oneself into cubicles and death are likely the reason “dormitory” fell out of favor.
Further below, there’s the historical meanings for the words “residence” and “hall” which have much grander and more home-like pedigrees than that of “dormitory.” These connotations are what universities and colleges refer to when explaining why those buildings are residence halls, not dormitories. (A number of examples can be found at the link.)
I think the terms “living-learning” and similar, to specifically denote the educational aspects of residence halls, were used more commonly following the publishing of the Residential Nexus, which argued for a strong educational presence in the residence halls. As this is also a way to show the benefits of housing to students, parents and the administration, housing pros emphasize the home-like and educational aspects of housing, rather than the sleeping, dormant aspect.
EDIT: Kevin Guidry’s comment about an article in the Talking Stick sent me on a hunt through late-80s copies of the magazine. After flipping through many pages of–it must be said–ill-advised editorial, advertisement and fashion decisions, I found the article to which he was likely referring. Here it is: TalkingStick87 ResHallsDorms
The first residence hall in the United States is easier to pin down than the first residence hall ever. The first residence halls ever were in Bologna, in the 1300s. We’ll talk more about those next week.
The first residence hall in the United States was at the country’s oldest institution, Harvard University. Old College, also known as Harvard College, was not only the first residence hall, but also the university’s first new academic building and the first higher education building in the English colonies. Construction started in 1638 and was completed in 1644. It was located on the southern end of Harvard Yard. The building was three stories, with a lecture room, a library, a kitchen (including a corn room), and chambers and tiny studies (4 1/3 x 5 feet) for students. The corn room was for storing the quantities of grain necessary to feed young scholars. Grain was also how some students paid their tuition. The chambers were large rectangular rooms in which about three students lived. The studies were small rooms within these, one for each student. The study was a place a student could read alone, likely an attractive option given their communal lives. The studies were arranged on the outside walls, so each had a tiny window. There were fireplaces in the rooms, but not in the studies, so these spaces must have been quite cold. They also had no independent source of light other than the windows, as most college students could not afford lamp-oil.
The building was notoriously drafty and cold, due in part to Bostonians’ inexperience with building structures appropriate to New England weather. This wasn’t limited to Old College; many of Cambridge’s first buildings proved unsound. After numerous repairs, it became apparent that Old College wasn’t worth saving, and construction on Harvard Hall II began in 1671. When the new building was ready, the library was evacuated from Old College, then the students (a year later!). Most of Old College had fallen down by the time the structure was demolished in 1679. No images of it remain.
Click here for RSS feed