This news should come as a relief to the current residents of "the mods," who arrived at the squat, brown- and white-paneled buildings on Sunday to find that the only thing four-star about their housing was, well, the names of the dormitories.
"When they asked me which dorm I wanted to pick, I thought, 'Oooh, The Waldorf, this one sounds good,'" said Waldorf resident Michael Goldsticker '09, who realized only after he'd sent his housing forms in that he had chosen one of the temporary dormitories. Like many of his fellow residents, Goldsticker lamented the long (about 10 minutes, most of the first-years claimed) walk to Valentine Dining Hall, but he and his fellow dormmates agreed that there are several benefits to living in the mods.
Large, clean bathrooms, proximity to the gym and the playing fields and one-room doubles that are slightly bigger than those in other freshman dorms were the benefits many first-years mentioned. Some said that they felt like they already had met more people as a result of living on one long hallway.
The transition to making the mods first-year housing was not easy. "Last year, the parents were very concerned about their children being in the mods," said President Anthony Marx. "Within a week I was hearing from students the opposite."
Marx was pleasantly surprised to learn that students in The Plaza and Waldorf were not only content with their housing situations but were also eager to remain residents of the temporary facilities. "When I visited the mods I had students asking me if they could have a preference to stay in the mods," he said. "It is interesting that while they are not architectural gems, nor were they intended to be, they do seem to have an appeal particularly for freshmen."
According to Dean of Residential Life Charri Boykin-East, students who lived in the mods as first-years were much happier than those who lived there as sophomores. Last year was the first year that first-years lived in The Plaza and The Waldorf; in the two years previous, they served as sophomore housing.
"There was a tremendous discontent [from the sophomores]," Boykin-East said. Because some sophomores lived in singles or larger doubles and triples, the sophomores placed in the mods felt like their housing lacked parity.
By contrast, Appleton, North and South dormitories consist entirely of one-room doubles, and James and Stearns dormitories also have some one-room doubles. The interior of the mods was modeled after Appleton's interior. As a result, the first-years living in the mods are more likely to complain about the location rather than any perceived lack of amenities.
"We try to create more of a sense of community because they're not on the quad," said Boykin-East, who spoke to students who lived in the mods as well as the Association of Amherst Students to find out how the class of 2008 fared last year. "I don't think there's a greater sense of community on the quad than in the mods."
Sarah Tracy '08, who lived in The Plaza last year, agreed. "Plaza really was a community," she said, while noting that there were drawbacks to the building itself, like cold showers and thin walls. "At the end of the year, I think most people were sad to leave Plaza behind because we had such a great group of people in there," she concluded.
Ali Khan '08 liked The Plaza so much that he was excited to hear he would be the RC in The Waldorf this year, even though it was a small betrayal.
"Last year [The Waldorf and The Plaza] had a pretty intense rivalry," he said. Khan said that any initial reservations about living in The Plaza were alleviated quickly by the friendships he formed there, and he expects that this year will be the same. "There's just one long hallway and no floors," he said. "Within a few weeks everyone will know each other's names. That's what it was like last year."
And while some of his residents came away from visits to the new and improved James and Stearns feeling envious, Khan had one easy solution: "We like to maintain a sense of humor about it."