A NEW CONCEPT of Dormitory Living

In one of the talks given at the joint meeting of Dartmouth class officers in Hanover on May 4, Prof. John P. Amsden '20, chairman of the Advisory Committee on Plant Development, discussed the new concept of Dartmouth dormitory life that guided the planning and architectural design of the four-dormitory unit to be built on the former Clark School playing field, beginning this summer. Professor Amsden's talk was tape-recorded and is here presen ted in full:

THE Provost has outlined for you the aspirations and hopes of the College education-wise. It is the assignment of the Advisory Committee on Plant Development to ascertain the physical plant needs required to implement these hopes and aspirations and then to make recommendations concerning plant construction that will best aid the progress of the College toward its goal. One aspect of this goal is the ability to attract to Dartmouth the top quality man and to maintain his morale while he is an undergraduate. There are a good many things which contribute to that. One of the facets that we are at present able to report on, however, is the particular one of the question of dormitory living at the College.

The present report has evolved with the cooperation of many people. First is the Commission on Campus Life which included representative undergraduates; second, the Advisory Committee on Plant Development; third, the Dormitory Building Committee; fourth, the Committee on Student Residence; fifth, the architect. We have utilized extensively, in arriving at our conclusions, the experience of other schools concerned with this same problem. It is our belief that dormitory life can and should play a more important part in the educational process at Dartmouth than it has in the past. And it is our hope that we may be able to make it do so.

The primary objective of a college education is still gained by study. In the past dormitory construction has, we believe, paid little attention to the man who may wish to use his room for the purpose of studying. Many of these men are driven to the library, to classroom buildings, and elsewhere, for the quiet which they need for study, particularly in the evening. In fact, I think the Dean's Office would bear me out that there is probably a demonstrable relationship between dormitory architecture and the disciplinary problems that are encountered in the building.

Over the years there has been a gradually changing concept of the role of the liberal arts college in fulfilling its obligation to society. We find that initially the College provided only instruction in academic subjects, and paid little attention to the way in which the student spent the rest of his time. Next were made available athletic and recreational facilities of increasing elaborateness. More recently the College has provided extensive health programs, both physical and emotional, for maintenance of the morale and health of its students. It now is coming to the conclusion that it has an obligation not only for these aspects of student life but also to help the student to attain social maturity and the ability to get along with his fellow men under a variety of circumstances.

It has been our belief that the possession of a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College should imply more than simply that the man has reached and finally passed his comprehensive examinations and has succeeded in swimming the length of the Spaulding Pool. It should imply also that the man is equipped, to the best of the College's ability, to assume a useful position in whatever society he may find himself after graduation and even to attain leadership in that society. Now, for many of the men in the College the principal place where such social maturity can best be developed is in the dormitory. Consequently, it is the belief of those of us who are concerned with the ability of the College to discharge its responsibility to the student and to society that the dormitory should among other things provide protection in his own room for the boy who comes to college to study.

In addition, it should serve to develop in the student a sense of self-discipline and diminish the chance for the development of undisciplined mob behavior, to which a good deal of the present dormitory construction does contribute.

Third, it should assist in developing the degree of social maturity referred to and the ability to get along with assorted individuals.

Fourth, particularly in a college which is geographically isolated such as Dartmouth, it should provide an opportunity for normal social contact with both sexes and in groups of various sizes.

Fifth, it should provide ready access to mature persons and a ready welcome into their homes.

Sixth, it should provide an environment which is conducive to normal and what, for want of a better term, I call "gracious" living, and preparation for life beyond the College.

It is our hope that the design of the new dormitories as at present developed will accomplish these objectives. The things that we had in mind in planning these new dormitories and the relationship to the objectives I have mentioned you have probably recognized as you have seen the plans, the architect's renderings, and the model which are on display at the Inn.

In the first place, by breaking up into smaller spaces the barracks type of dormitory with its long central corridors, which is prevalent on the campus and which is provocative, we believe, of some anti-social conduct, we are hoping to promote better behavior and relationship between the students living in the dormitories.

Second, we hope to achieve these ends by establishing within these dormitories living units which are apparently of optimum size, that is of eight or nine men; also, by providing an opportunity for the man who prefers a single room to have that single room and still have ready contact when he wants it with his fellow students; also, by providing accommodations for men who prefer the companionship of sharing a room.

Third, by providing for each of these units a living room for the development of its social life and locating that living room so that the maximum of social life can be enjoyed there while the maximum of protection is still provided for the men in the rooms around it who might wish to rest or to study. Parenthetically, it may also be said that there may be some relation between normal living and the quality and availability of sanitary facilities. This has been recognized in preparing the plans.

Fourth, by providing in the common room which serves each two of these dormitories opportunity for association in larger groups where that seems on occasion to be desirable.

And finally, in the living quarters for the resident faculty member and his family in connection with each pair of dormitories, again to provide ready accessibility to the more adult social living which the students are preparing themselves for, and in effect to provide them, on the occasions when they may desire it, ready access to a home away from home.

It is our hope that these dormitories will serve these functions and will make a valuable contribution toward the accomplishment of the overall educational program and aspirations of the College; that they will introduce a new and, we believe, needed element in the total experience Dartmouth offers to its students; that they will attract favorable attention and will help the College to maintain in the coming third century of its life its preeminence among liberal arts colleges in the country.

IN order to give the Dartmouth class officers a visual idea of the new dormitories, the College placed on display in the Hanover Inn lobby a complete model of the four residence units, each housing 75 men, the two common rooms, and the two faculty homes comprising the development on the old Clark School playing field, just north of the Webster Avenue fraternity houses. Supplementing the model were floor plans, a plot plan and several exterior and interior renderings in color. This display was later transferred to College Hall where undergraduates could view it.

It was explained that the new concept of dormitory living called for a resourceful and interesting architectural treatment. How could harmony with existing buildings, especially with nearby Cutter Hall, be combined in fresh and original manner with the educational, social and living requirements so carefully worked out by various planning groups?

It was decided that red brick would be the most appropriate exterior and also that white trim would not only continue a Dartmouth architectural tradition but would give clarity and definition to the design. Horizontal bands of white at floor level will be reminiscent of the string courses in older buildings, and will express by artistic means the quiet and repose consistent with the new concept of what a dormitory should be.

Since the bedrooms are intended primarily for studying and sleeping, they will be compact but will have good light and a sense of space by means of large windows, five feet wide. Built-in dressers and closets will conserve space, and basic furnishings will be provided by the College. The large common room planned for each pair of dormitories will have a fireplace and will be furnished attractively as a social center for dormitory group activities and for dances, faculty receptions and the like. It will be raised to the second-floor level so as to be easily accessible from all three floors of the dormitories and to form an integral unit with them.

The faculty resident will have a home attractive to a man with a family. It is designed so that the faculty resident will be available to dormitory occupants and yet have privacy when he wants it. The study will be placed so it will be convenient both to student and household, yet it will be in the house wing nearest the common room so the student may call upon the faculty resident without having to enter the family living quarters. The main part of the faculty resident's house will have a large living-dining room, a kitchen and three bedrooms.

Construction o£ the new dormitories is scheduled to begin this summer. The College has made application to the Housing and Home Finance Agency for a loan of $1,500,000 to finance the construction costs. The loan will be amortized by means of student rentals.

The dormitories are being built in order to relieve the overcrowding in student residence halls that has existed since the end of World War 11. They are not intended as housing for an enlarged undergraduate enrollment. When the new dorms are ready for occupancy in the fall of 1957 the College will then be able to undertake the remodeling of Massachusetts Hall and several other dormitories scheduled for a thorough face-lifting.

The new dormitory design has grown out of educational and social aims discussed here by Professor Amsden. Red brick exterior, white trim and landscaping will create harmony with existing buildings.

Bedrooms, designed primarily for studying and sleeping, will be compact, with large windows providing a feeling of space. The College will provide basic furnishings.