Trading Spaces: Dorm Affiliations

Next year, Scaife and Bewkes will house underclassman girls, Pocumtuck will switch to upperclassman girls, and Dewey and Chapin, a dormitory yet to be built, will be home to underclassman boys.

The plan to build a new dormitory was recently approved by the Board of Trustees. It does not yet have a name, but it will, according to current plans, have space for 30 individual rooms and 3 faculty residents, as well as common rooms.

Its construction requires that Ashley, a single-entry residence that currently houses eight underclassman girls, two proctors, and one faculty family, be leveled. Also, teachers David Dickinson and Claudia Lyons’ house will be moved.

This summer, a temporary dormitory, which is to be called Chapin Hall, will be erected to replace Ashley.

“It will be very similar to the structure of the Pocumtuck dormitory,” explained Director of Facilities Chuck Williams, “except the desks will be similar to the ones in Louis Marx.”

In changing dorm assignments, the administration hoped to accommodate the large number of girls in the class of 2013, the result of an unexpectedly high yield and subsequent over-enrollment, without forcing students into unwanted doubles or triples.

Social considerations were taken into account as well. “We felt like younger girls weren’t thriving in smaller dorms as they would in bigger dorms,” commented Dean of Student Toby Emerson.

“Converting Pocumtuck into an upperclassmen girls dormitory is a really great opportunity for the girls to get to know each other better,” commented Wahi Diome ’12.

Tabata Viso ’14 disagreed. “I don’t think it is fair for upperclassmen girls to live in Pocumtuck, because the rooms are smaller than on the other upperclassmen halls,” she argued.