Shades of Greycliff

“I don’t think people who didn’t chose to live here should be forced to,” states Humbert.

Gabor even feels that “there were some nights where it would’ve been fun to live on a crazy floor where there were a whole bunch of kids doing all sorts of different things.”

Almost everyone agrees that living in Greycliff can be difficult for most freshmen.

“The fact that you’re an outpost of around 20 freshmen down here on the end of campus can be difficult. You do have to take more initiative to stay in touch with the rest of your class. Also sometimes more than occasionally, we get left out of the loop on getting publicity about campus events,” states Sawyer.

“It definitely means that I know fewer people, and it made it more difficult to get into being here,” says Quinn.

Caitlin Christianson, A&S ’03, agrees. “You don’t get to meet a lot of people here, and there are not that many freshmen … It’s giving me a lot of problems finding people to do stuff with. I eat on Lower where I don’t know anyone. If I wasn’t in other activities, I would have met so few people. I’m definitely not going to live here again.”

Not everyone feels this way.

“I ended up having the best roommate. It basically has shaped the rest of my time at Boston College. I was just thinking about this. If I hadn’t lived in Greycliff, I wouldn’t have had the RA that I had. Then my roommate got involved in UGBC, which got me involved as well,” states Frey

He adds, “A lot of people were moving out, though. They felt that they were out of the loop. I had a great time in Greycliff, but not everyone did.”

“I can understand why a lot of people feel that it is isolating. It is true that you didn’t meet as many people through a resident situation, but I didn’t mind because I made friends through campus activities, through classes, through friends of friends. I didn’t feel like I was away from it all. In fact, I think that it really contributed to a great freshman experience because the home atmosphere of this place made the transition easier. I got to know everybody in this dorm,” says Cotroneo.

Frey also feel that the freshmen set-up at Greycliff can be an advantage. “I wasn’t tied down to a hall. I’ve had some conversations with freshmen lately about how everything is really cliquey. I think that a lot of that is based on your floor, the people that you are locked into in a dorm situation. I was just really happy that I was able to choose exactly who I hung around with, and that allowed me especially to hang around people besides freshmen. Tons of upperclassmen showed me the ropes.”

Many residents also feel that Greycliff gets left behind when it comes to renovations.

“I wish it got respect. I remember my freshman year, my roommate and I took a camera around and took pictures of all this gross stuff like exposed plumbing and deteriorating walls. Then they kind of fixed it up for last year. It’s supposed to be honors housing. I think they should make it special … If they put a little effort into it, it could be cool,” says Frey.

Because most people on campus don’t know anyone from the dorm, only that it is the Honors house, Greycliff and its residents are subject to being stereotyped.

“Late at night people would walk by and be like, ‘Greycliff sucks, dork house, loser house’,” remembers Wilson.

Cotroneo believes that “It’s just because nobody knows. If people came here and visited a friend or something, they would find out that it is very different from what they think. I think the Honors dorm tags us as the age old myth of being nerds.”

Frey feels the same way. “They are completely unfounded. All sorts of people live in Greycliff: swim team, track team, big time dorks, really well-known people on campus.”

“Dude, I would so much rather just go out. I’m just so not into that culture anyway. I really don’t care. I’m sounding like an elitist or something, but I just don’t care,” says Gabor.

Quinn has a very different view completely. “It’s very accurate I think.”

Sawyer understands many of the frustrations concerning the isolation and distance.

“I think it would really be interesting not to segregate the Honors dorm,” he says. “I think it says something that the Honors dorm is all of the way off campus. If BC had real options about it, I think it would be a good idea not to have a dorm where Greycliff is. I think it doesn’t make sense to have only one dorm not on campus. Having said that, I think with Greycliff where it is, there are ways to make that work. There are ways to make than an opportunity instead of an obstacle.”