April 15, 2004

Freshman-only living expands

Elder Hall becomes newest and largest student residence

By Mindy Hagen

Elder Hall will be converted into an all-freshman residence next year, joining two smaller dorms on North Campus that have piloted freshman-only living this year.

Elder Hall, the newest all-freshman residence, is one of the largest residence halls on campus. It has space for 287 students.

photo by Stephen Anzaldi

Although the Hinman House and 600 Lincoln building only hold a combined 87 students, Elder is one of the largest residence halls on campus and has space for 287 residents.

Associate Director for University Housing Mark D’Arienzo said the change to Elder was made after the Office of Residential Life received “positive feedback” on all-freshman living in the two smaller dorms.

“We looked to enhance the sense of community among the freshman class,” D’Arienzo said. “We hope an even greater sense of community can be reached with a larger building.”

D’Arienzo called the move to freshman-only housing in Elder “a dynamic paradigm shift” from Northwestern’s traditional mixed-class living format. Although several other universities separate freshman in certain buildings or quads, Northwest-ern typically has allowed all classes to be represented in its residence halls.

The shift of Elder Hall to all-freshman housing was only one of the changes instituted for this year’s housing assignment process, D’Arienzo said. Beginning this year, the suites in the Foster-Walker Complex will house three students instead of four and the University property at 2251 Sheridan Road will become permanent housing for transfer students.

Also, students requesting to live in 1835 Hinman only will be able to pull one additional student into their suite and students requesting to live in Kemper Hall can bring two students into their suites as opposed to five.

“This represents an opportunity for more students to apply for and be assigned to 1835 Hinman and Kemper,” D’Arienzo said.

(Mindy Hagen earned a bachelor’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism in the spring quarter.)