The Whitman dining hall was members only once again last Tuesday evening, but it was no ordinary College Night. "Men should wear jacket or tie, and women should wear skirts or suits," read the printed invitations to the Whitman Senior ...(back to the article)
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@wtf...those on financial aid grants from the university can choose to utilize the funds they are granted into the manner in which they choose. One of the things you can do is move money which was previously used to pay for a dining hall plan and instead give it to a club. Once the U. has granted you the money, you can adjust its usage.
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Doesn't financial aid cover eating club costs too? That seems to me like the university is funding eating clubs, so it's not like there is some unfair push towards only four year college dining. And eating clubs aren't even part of the university officially.
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If the 4 year colleges are supposed to offer choice, then that should be the truth: what if upperclassmen can live in a residential college, with the option to be on a full meal plan, a shared meal plan, or NO meal plan. Sure, hang out with all the freshmen and sophomores you want, but also get a (non-forced) sense of community of the eating club you're in. The administration needs to stop poaching the great dorms, one by one, until upperclass non-college housing will consist of Brown and 3 entryways of Lockhart and everyone will be forced into a 4 year college. If they want the clubs to remain EATING clubs, and not just drinking clubs, then they'll back off.
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@@ Crusty Alum ... Yawn. Yes I am an old fogey. No I won't fight you. Go eat some chicken fingers and have a good weekend. @ Erin ... Absolutely. The same argument can be made in reverse. Again, I think the easiest way to increase enrollment in the four year colleges is to have the _best_ dorm rooms. If size is comparable as you suggest, students choose the "newest". If the rooms are the same size and same age, students will go where there is more support and more money. A recent Prince article alleged that funding was inconsistent between colleges. Others have alleged that desireable rooms have been co-opted into the four year colleges from other upperclass housing and from other residential colleges. I'm not on campus, I don't know if this is true, but I assumed it was true as a basis for my analysis. The attempts to steal very popular rooms from independent upperclass housing (Spelman) seems to support those claims.
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Yes, as long as club fin. aid is in place. Upperclass zoning/draw should favor independent students who need kitchens first. After that, make the playing field even for housing by letting upperclass students choose among all these options (independent vs. eating club vs. dining hall meal plans) regardless of where they are on campus. If the administration (read: Dean Malkiel) wants to sincerely claim that it's providing options, level the playing field in this fashion and let students choose what they want.
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You would probably do well to take your own advice on the issue of reading comprehension ;)
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"Lots of people will choose a 200 sq. ft. dorm room in a 4 year residential college over a 100 sq. ft. dorm room that isn't." Couldn't the same argument be made in reverse? Depending on which building you draw into (and what room type you prefer), many, if not most, of the upperclassmen dorms are just as spacious as those in the 4-year colleges.
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Re: "Re: Honest Question Again" If I understand you correctly, you're saying that 4-year colleges should remain an option so long as students who live in them aren't forced to buy a residential college meal plan. Similarly, students living in non-independent upperclass dorms should have the choice of buying rescollege meal plans or am I wrongly interpreting your comment here?
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@ 3:53 p.m. ... Um. Read. If you just want to argue back and forth, call me an old fogey or something.
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@ I Don't Get The Hate Either ... The 4-year colleges are very clearly being prioritized at the expense of other dining options, and living options too. The easiest way to increase enrollment is to have the best dorm rooms, it's simple. @1:48 -- The school has been VERY good about renovating upper class dorms, especially in the last fifteen years. What rock have you been living under? Patton? Little? Pyne? Brown? Scully? I think the rest of your points are fair, especially about the attempts to stack the deck and make the "decision" one that is not equal. Lots of people will choose a 200 sq. ft. dorm room in a 4 year residential college over a 100 sq. ft. dorm room that isn't. Especially when that distinction has been made clear from the beginning of freshman year. I agree that the social experiment becomes more social engineering when you stack the deck to favor your utopian ideals.
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I'm not assuming anything. You, on the other hand, seem to think that any dissenting comment must be the work of PR gurus.
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Not saying there is a conspiracy. Some students clearly like the option. I just don't credit the comments as much as I would were there a name attached. If you want to trust blindly and assume that no PR person ever lurks in anonymous comments here, you're more than welcome to do so.
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They could just let people buy/not buy university meal plans regardless of where they live on campus- there's no need to force upperclassmen to buy a plan because they live in specified housing.
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In response to the 2nd to the last poster before me, let's assume that the administration takes your comment as truth and decides to stop with all this 4-year college business. What do you think are some ways in which the University could still provide dining options to those who aren't interested in the eating clubs/independent living without shortchanging those who are?
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"Bribing students to abandon the clubs," eh? Or could it simply be that a good number of students just aren't interested in being a part of the social scene that the Street offers? As for "using club members' housing and tuition fees to pay for the bribes," please, kids who are interested in staying in the res colleges (which, last time I checked, are a perfectly valid dining option) are just as entitled to your tuition funds as those living in independent dorms, regular upperclassmen dorms, etc. Now, if you're concerned that the 4-year colleges are being prioritized at the expense of other dining options (i.e. the decision to annex Spelman), that's completely understandable, but to suggest that the option should just be done away with in its entirety is pretty unfair to those who have find it to be a nice alternative to the clubs/independent dining.
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"However, I'm curious as to why there is so much opposition to the IDEA of the 4-year colleges in the first place." The reason why everyone is pissed at the 4-year colleges is because they are not being sold as a fair option. The university is using its muscle to shove resources into their priority while neglecting the rest of us that choose not to enjoy their beloved option. There are far better ways to them spend my tuition money than on renting segways for little whitman kiddies to play around with. Try renovating ANY upperclass dorm in the next 15 years (since none have been in about that long), maybe provide even roughly comparable common space amenities. They're bribing students to abandon the clubs by offering better housing, and then turning around and using club members' housing and tuition fees to pay for the bribes. It's unethical, and it needs to stop.
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Or maybe it just so happens there are some students who like the 4-year college system and (like most commenters on this site) don't want to give their full name? Seriously, dude, not everything is the result of some administration-led conspiracy.
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@ Huzzah ... There are no other parties aside from students who would attack the current system. However, there are two possible parties that could support or would want to support the four year system; students and administration. While I don't know the policy of the administration, it is quite common for PR and HR reps to post anonymously on business forums where their company is criticized. Posting anonymously is quite easy here, but when there is a possibility for spin on one side, it is better for posters to use their real names. This is especially true when your post of support is part of a small minority.
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I third(?) the comments on increasing funding to club sports AND intramural sports, as it's probably the best way to increase camaraderie among underclassmen, upperclassmen, and grad students. Give the non-varsity athletes the opportunities to play and feel safe, and they'll get to know each other through sports.
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Like many other students, I have some issues with the 4-year college system in its current state (in particular, the decision to cut back on independent housing to provide more room for the new college system is a major grievance of mine). However, I'm curious as to why there is so much opposition to the IDEA of the 4-year colleges in the first place. Should upperclassmen not be given dining options other than the Street and independent living? If the 4-year colleges are not the best way to go about creating these options, what should the administration propose instead?
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"It is curious that the people who have such good relations and support the new regime choose to remain anonymous. Are they actually students? Would hallmates call them out and contradict that they interact? I can think of no real other reason to remain anonymous in support." The same could for those commenters who are opposed to the 4-year college system. It's not like that many posters actually use their real names here anyway.
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we are in collllllege. Collllllllllllllege. Why in the world does the university administration insist on holding our hands when we go outside for recess? Can we please hang out with people we like instead of those arbitrarily selected for us? Please?
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It is curious that the people who have such good relations and support the new regime choose to remain anonymous. Are they actually students? Would hallmates call them out and contradict that they interact? I can think of no real other reason to remain anonymous in support.
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Phenomenal article. Thank you very much.
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I second the suggestion to fund club sports! There's been an increase in funding, so let's see how that works out. But yes, club sports is where I know everyone from graduate students to exchange students to freshmen.
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Perhaps his experience is simply a reflection of his own lack of interest in interacting with others. Whitman rules!
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I also disagree about interclass interaction. I am a junior and hang out with some of the underclassmen on my hall daily.
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Do the sides wish to settle their differences with ping-pong diplomacy, billiard-ball diplomacy, or “Prince” thesis diplomacy?
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Shhh!!! Don't tell Mrs. 43%!!! She doesn't like hearing things that contradict her well-established and intractable beliefs!
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Dear Administration: You want interaction between classes? Try funding club sports decently for once. I know everyone from freshmen to grad students from my team because frankly sharing a common interest/activity is much more effective at generating friendships than sharing a bathroom.
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As a junior living Whitman, I respectfully disagree. I have made friends with many freshmen, and regularly eat with them, in Whitman and at my club. I hang out with them, and attend Whitman study breaks and events. I have had a wonderful year in Whitman.
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Rather than hosting large events for the Whitman residents, why not assign ( or "invite" ) residents to dine at specific tables each night and jumble the "guests" ? That is, two freshmen, two sophmores, et etc....and really encouraging them to attend....Have a "host" at each table table prepare open -ended questions for all...like, tell us about your Senior Thesis, etc.
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Nice article, thank you.
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All that they're missing is the "Mission Accomplished" banner. Anyone could've predicted this would happen. The University tried something similar to this in the 1970s and it didn't work. Let's see if that 43% approval rating continues to head south...
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And after a full year of trying to create a community room draw comes along and almost all of Whitman's sophomores find out their is no room for them in the College next year. "We are family, but son we gave your bedroom to someone else next year."
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AMEN!
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Medeiros' columns have been consistently well argued and well written. Unlike some Prince columns, they are constructive instead of whiny. Kudos to great writing.
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What a great article. I wonder if the administration actually believed their bloviations about upperclassmen, underclassmen, and grad students coalescing into some kind of actual community. They are probably too smart for that and, like a common politician, went ahead with those justifications anyway because it was the easiest way to further the anti-Street cause. How ironic that the failure of the 4-year colleges may actually strengthen the clubs.
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