Jim Brassord, director of facilities, explained that with phase one of the residential master plan nearing completion, the College has now turned its attention to the next phase of construction, which is set to begin this summer. "The fraternity dorms will be renovated in a series of projects over the next 10 years. Hamilton and Porter were selected as the first of the fraternity dorms to be renovated because of their physical condition," he said. Brassord also explained that the former Pratt Museum of Natural History, will also undergo renovation this summer in order to eventually house students.
Hamilton and Porter, which received minor cosmetic renovations in the mid-80's, were built in 1916 and 1917 respectively. "The buildings will be essentially rebuilt from top to bottom and will receive new slate roofs and windows. All of the buildings' mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems will be replaced with state of the art systems that are energy efficient and reliable," said Brassord.
Senior Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Charri Boykin-East explained that the renovations of these two dorms will positively affect students' living situations within the campus community. "I continue to be very pleased with the renovations that we have completed with each building thus far," she said. "The past renovations have made these living environments more comfortable for the students. I believe this will be true for Porter and Hamilton as well."
Boykin-East added that other buildings will be evaluated for potential improvements. "As part of the long term goals of the residential master plan, we will look at other dorms on campus in order to upgrade and address these buildings' maintenance needs," she said.
The health and wellness theme house, which fosters a substance-free residential dorm for students, will occupy all of Seligman Dormitory and the fourth floor of Morrow Dormitory, which is currently under construction.
La Causa, the theme house which promotes the expression of Latino culture on campus, will move from Seligman to the third floor of Moore Dormitory. The Asian Culture House (ACH) will continue to occupy the fourth floor of Moore during the next academic year.
Once La Causa moves to the third floor, Moore will harbor two theme houses for the first time. Sang Youn Cha '07, current president of ACH, explained how this change will affect the living environment within the dorm. "This change will affect the campus very positively," he said. "This will ease the two very important theme houses of Amherst to cooperate in promoting diversity on this campus. The proximity in distance between the two theme houses will most definitely encourage ACH members to become more interested in Hispanic culture and vice versa. Also, the ACH members would be better informed about La Causa's events and activities," he said.
Akita Vaughan '07 echoed Cha's positive outlook, stating that ACH and La Causa could take part in more activities together next year. "It should be really good as long as we work together," she said. "[We should] probably do something together and see how we interact," she said.
Vaughan, however, added that ACH should take the initiative of working with La Causa since it will remain in Moore. "We're still going to be living on the same floor, so I think that [ACH] actually should put the effort to working together to see what kind of projects the Latin community and the Asian community can do," said Vaughan.
Tahnee Tangherlini '08, one of the house presidents of La Causa, discussed potential consequences concerning La Causa's location change from Seligman to Moore. "I think that the location change of La Causa from a house to a floor in Moore is going to greatly impact the dynamic of the house and the role it plays for the campus," she said. "The space in La Causa has always been really valuable not only to house members for house events but also for the Latino community on campus."
Tangherlini discussed the pros and cons concerning La Causa's move. "Being moved to a floor is going to limit the kind of events we can hold in our house space," she said. "Our bigger events would have to take place in another space on campus like the Campus Center, which makes events more impersonal. It can also become problematic when competing for space."
Despite potential negative consequences, Tangherlini recognized that the move to Moore could encourage more students to apply to La Causa. "On a positive note, the move to Moore will attract more members who would have been otherwise turned off by the distance or the not-so-modern condition of the house," she said. "I have confidence that our house membership will increase greatly and that this [change] will allow for more selectiveness in accepting students into the house, which will in turn improve the quality of the membership and the performance of the house."
Tangherlini also added that members of the house would be encouraged to interact with one another more often. "Since we are confined to a single floor in Moore, I think it will also bring unity to the house," she said.
President of the German House Jamie Montana '08 explained that the organization and running of the German House will hardly be affected after the theme house moves from Porter to Garman. "Since Garman is right next door and has a very similar floor plan, this change will hardly affect the running of the theme house," he said. Montana also explained that he was grateful to the administration for keeping the German House in a dorm on campus, making it easier to attract students to events.