But the advantages of these common spaces are lost on the residents of many of the older upperclass dorms. These buildings rarely have common spaces scattered throughout. For example, 1901 and Laughlin Hall have only one, small basement common space between them for many juniors and seniors. The absence of these spaces is particularly significant given the social divisions that can exist in upperclass dorms as a result of different eating club or dining choices. Common spaces could help to build a more cohesive, unified residential community among upperclassmen from a variety of different groups.
Moreover, this situation is unlikely to be rectified anytime soon. The University currently has no plans to renovate any of the upperclass dorms until at least 2016. This decision was made prior to the economic recession, though the current financial climate has undoubtedly reinforced this decision. The only exception to this policy is the planned renovation of Brown Hall, which was scheduled to take place this coming summer but has been delayed until the next academic year. This delay, however, allows time for re-evaluation of the plans for Brown.
Brown’s renovation plans do not currently include provisions for the creation of any common spaces in the dorm. But incorporating these spaces would be an easy improvement. This could be done by outfitting a large room or a merger of two existing rooms to include couches, televisions and tables. These common rooms would not need to be overly large, as evidenced by the frequency of similarly small spaces in Whitman. Moreover, an established precedent exists for this kind of improvement: The Brown Co-op was created by adapting an existing room for this new purpose. Including one or two such common spaces in Brown would be relatively inexpensive and easy to do and would yield substantial benefits for Brown’s upperclass residents.
This strategy could likewise be employed throughout upperclass dorms despite this long-term hiatus on major renovations. Even if large-scale changes cannot be made, these smaller transformations would do much to provide additional outlets for community building in these dorms and allay some of the complaints about the quality of upperclass housing as a whole. Though these rooms would be removed from room draw, it would not be difficult to shuffle occupancy for a minimal number of rooms in other dorms on campus to allow for the creation of these spaces.
Incorporating common room spaces into dormitory designs is an excellent use of space and fosters positive interaction among students. The University has done well to include them as a key feature in its residential college plans and would do well to extend these same benefits to upperclassmen. Especially in a time of shrinking budgets, these small, inexpensive changes are both prudent and useful. And with renovation scheduled for next year, Brown Hall is the ideal place to begin.
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