 Mirroring a national trend, Boston College has looked to incorporate open spaces for socializing in its new residence halls. [Click to enlarge]
|
|
|
|
Powers beyond their control are convincing college students, more than ever, to drop their books and free themselves from the captivity of the library. More surprisingly, however, is that these urges aren't coming from the temptation to catch The OC or the allure of a lonely PlayStation, but instead are coming from the encouragement of college administrations across the country.
A trend is rapidly developing on college campuses nationwide to build and renovate facilities that release students from the confines of their residence halls and promote social interaction. In the age of the iPod where student self-sufficiency has reached its peak, college administrators have become increasingly worried that such portable creature comforts are creating self absorbed student bodies.
Cathy Small, an anthropology professor at Northern Arizona University and author of My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student feels that social evolution on college campuses seems a bit strained. "Students are finding community at college, but how they define community is changing," she said in an interview with The Heights. Rather than identifying community on a grand scale, students are tending to find community "in the four or five people they go out and spend time with, who they watch the Super Bowl with," Small continued. As for the efforts of college administrators to encourage community through new and improved facilities, "I think it's a good idea, but I don't know how well it will work. You can't always fight culture," she said.
This movement toward social development is becoming apparent around campus at Boston College. Construction, in recent years, has popped up everywhere from 110 St. Thomas More Road Hall to the residence hall at 66 Commonwealth Ave.
Upon its completion in 2004, St. Ignatius Gate Residence Hall, known around campus as "the gate," added housing for over 300 BC students. The six-story building was designed with student socialization in mind, featuring suite style residences and a wealth of lounges and study areas.
Mike Trapanese, A&S '07, a resident of St. Ignatius last year, agreed that the residence hall was designed to foster student socialization.
"Spacious common rooms provide a great option to cramped bedrooms, and lounges on every floor promote meeting your neighbors," Trapanese said.
"They couldn't have built less soundproof walls if they had tried," he added. "Paper-thin walls, aside from all of their obvious negative aspects, may in some way help to deter feelings of isolation."
With a target for completion set for June 2006, the renovations on the residence hall at 66 Commonwealth Ave. are architecturally following suit. The hall, most likely a future residence for sophomores, will be comprised of almost entirely of double rooms and will house an estimated 249 students. Some singles will be built in the facility to house students with special medical needs.
Henry Humphreys, director of Residential Life, said that throughout the design process for the renovations of the hall, he was mindful of the particular needs of students, notably of their need for social interaction. The design of 66 Commonwealth Ave., which will soon be available to students, aims to create "a building that feels open and fluid" and "doesn't trap or confine students," Humphreys said. With large common rooms lined with "curtain walls" (non-load bearing glass walls that separate students without isolating them) and an architectural structure that maximizes the use of natural light, the plan for 66 Commonwealth Ave. seems to accomplish just that.
"It's a win-win situation," he said. "Sophomore students have the opportunity to live on Lower Campus where they want to be and can still live in a traditional style dorm [without suites]."
As colleges across the country scramble to draw up blueprints for modern facilities inspired by student interaction, it is undeniable that socialization has started to pervade all aspects of student life. From the classroom to the residence hall, the barriers on communication, allowing students to isolate themselves from their classmates, are promptly being knocked down. For many BC students, the construction and renovations to campus residence halls is a sign of progress.
"It seems as though meeting people and building social connections is almost as important a part of the college experience as earning a degree," Trapanese said. "It certainly doesn't hurt if the University promotes it."
The administration seems to agree.
"BC students are social animals," said Humphreys.
This effort to promote socializiation through design is a nationwide project. Institutions like the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia are drawing up plans for new halls with architectural models that boast spacious, open common areas and other features conducive to student socialization. In Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, a newly renovated high-rise hall features a patio garden, game room, and rooftop lounge that all but force students to mingle.
Spring Break
