This is pretty big news for many. Incoming class may want to pick their dorms carefully:
http://housing.uchicago.edu/news/announcement/college-housing-update/
http://housing.uchicago.edu/houses_houses/community_and_traditions/residence-hall-closures/
Essentially, half the dorms here are being shut down at the end of the 2015-2016 school year, and will “Migrate” to the massive dorm that they are building a few blocks North of campus. It essentially gets rid of all of the small dorms, and ends the decades long legacies of many of these houses.
So if you were looking to get into Blackstone or Breckinridge or Maclean because of smaller house sizes, you’re going to find out in a year that they plan to end these houses and replace them with 100+ houses with no history or existing house spirit.
Which sucks.
To be fair, the members of each existing house will migrate as a community into their new house in North Campus, os the house culture shouldn’t shift radically within a year. The question will be whether they can keep up the same house spirit once they’re not as isolated and they’re now in contact with other student populations (ecology and evolution, anyone?) Most student angst is directed not as much at the closing of the satellite dorms as much as at the changing of house names.
As one Facebook poster put it, the real challenge will be whether North can keep up the quality of Scav competition that its satellite dorm ancestors had exhibited before the move.
Just curious. Why do not they keep the house names.
I think the name of a house is sort of a tradition. Like an old alumnus and a new one can relate to the same name.
Money, what else? Donate to the college, have a house named after you. From what I’ve heard (but I’m just a parent, so I may be wrong) the students were told in meetings yesterday that the reason for the name changes is monetary. Can we assume they already have the donors lined up?
How short sighted. The future wealthy alumni from Breckinridge or Maclean will be less likely to give their future millions because the tight house culture they had is no longer part of the college.
Even if they could keep the names, however, keeping their unique house cultures in the big new dorms would be hard. Part of what makes these dorms so incredibly special is because they have pocket communities away a bit from the mainstream. Being part of one of these one dorm, one house cultures is one of my student’s favorite parts of Uchicago as far as I can tell. It is sad for these students to have their college homes taken away from them. Most don’t want the big shiny new dorm. They want their quirky home dorms with their run down but spacious lounges, full kitchens, walls you can paint on and space away from the fray. Especially, as far as I can tell, Maclean and Breckinridge.
Maybe some wealthy donor will pay to keep the name the same or to keep Breck or Maclean open. Dreaming here. . .
Maybe some one has already donated money to rebuild Breck and Maclean already thus the move out.
Do UChicago students stay with the same house for all four years?
Most, if not all students move out after two years, yes, unless you want to change houses, you can stay in the same “house” for four years.
I think it depends on the dorm, but plenty of 3rd and even 4th years stay in the dorms. My 3rd year S was one of at least 20 3rd years in his small house, and he and others are going back for their 4th.
Even if you do move off campus, you still are a part of your original house.