What’s the one photograph you will not find on the College’s webpage? Independent housing. But be sure to look for that photo at the beginning of next year.
On Inauguration Saturday, the Budget and Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees approved a budget of $2.4 million to be invested into the current TKE/College Hall building. The building will be entirely independent housing next year. During spring break, the TKEs will move into the old FIJI house to allow renovations to begin. There they will await completion of their new building where Crawford Hall currently stands. For many independents the new College Hall will be a dream come true.
With multi-million dollar fraternity houses sprouting up all over campus, and an increasingly growing independent population, many students see the College Hall renovation as long over due.
In the fall of 2006, Wabash welcomed 268 freshmen to campus with 50.7% of those Greek (percentage calculated after depledges). This percentage shows a drop in Greek freshmen, whereas in 2004 and 2005 the percentages of Greek freshmen were 63.8% and 60.6% respectively. The fact that the Class of 2010 was both exceptionally large and less Greek-oriented led to a housing crunch for independents.
During “depledge season” last fall, Resident Assistants and Associate Dean of Students Mike Raters began to feel the effects of these numbers. Independent housing reached capacity, but fortunately a house at 13 Harry Freedman Place became available and opened nine housing slots for independents.
The current remodeling plans and expansion of College Hall will absorb the loss of housing slots at Crawford Hall while simultaneously adding ten to fourteen slots to overall independent housing.
A $2.4 million renovation! Increased housing slots! No fraternity beneath their floors! These reasons will cause much rejoicing next year by administration and independents alike. Has a housing crunch finally opened the administration’s eyes to living conditions of independents? No. While seemingly good on the surface, the College Hall renovation is just another message to independents that they are of second-class status.
A $2.4 million renovation sounds promising to an independent in the walk-in-closet-sized rooms of Wolcott Hall, but when it comes to transforming a dilapidated fraternity house with no air conditioning, this figure does not amount to much more than a new HVAC system and a fresh coat of paint.
“I would call the Phi Psi building a remodel and College Hall a refurbishment,” Dean Raters said.
A refurbished fraternity house is exactly what the independents will get.
How is it that destroying the entire Crawford Hall building and adding one floor of the TKE house will add fourteen spaces to overall independent living? The administration answers that with one of their favorite answers to expanding independent space: turn common areas into dorm rooms. In Martindale, first floor lounges were turned into rooms more than three years ago, and if common spaces in the basement met fire codes, they probably would have been transformed as well. This practice continues with the renovation of College Hall. Current TKE common areas will be turned into rooms for additional independent space.
From the outside College Hall will change very little. Even though the TKEs will be gone, their 1960’s architectural fraternity house will remain.
“The exterior will not change monumentally, but those large dining room windows will be replaced,” Dean of Students, Tom Bambrey commented. If the administration were only as adamant about creating a new dormitory as they were about removing the dining room windows, I would tell freshmen to hope for a new dormitory. But a new dorm is still in the dream phase as of now.
“Addressing independent housing seems to be a high priority of the administration. Time will tell how high that priority is,” James Inmann ’08 said.
Of course real estate, funds, and timing are all barriers the administration must face when dealing with housing. And of course, not everyone can be pleased; Kappa Sigma probably views its housing status to be as bad as independents. But the College Hall renovation gave the administration a chance to gain rapport with independent students whose buildings have been outdated for sometime. The current plans for College Hall should gain no such rapport.
“I think guys are really going to be pleased with what they see at College Hall,” Dean Raters said.
And Dean Raters is correct. Independents will be happy to have a new building. They will be happy to have housing nicer than Martindale and Wolcott. The administration will be happy that it can check off an independent living unit as being “refurbished” and continue building new fraternities. But independents should not be happy to keep their second-class status.