Students entering Feeney Hall. Photo: Matthew Congdon.
By Reggie Bourn '21
Ask anyone about what they picture as a stereotypical college dorm room, and you鈥檒l hear a number of similar responses. Cramped rooms, bathrooms down the hall, and one or two roommates. Feeney Hall, aka the Suites, differs from this picture by offering apartment-style housing for up to eight students. It鈥檚 located across from Alfond Hall in an area known as the 鈥淔ishbowl鈥濃�攎ade up of five available residence halls that form a horseshoe shape. As one of the upperclassmen residence halls, it鈥檚 a popular destination on campus and one of two group housing options. Its layout reminded me more of a hotel than the residence halls I鈥檓 used to. I sat down with the residents of RA Suite M to try and get a clearer understanding of what it鈥檚 like to live there.
Meet the guys of Suite M: Spencer Wilkinson 鈥�19 (who serves as the RA or Resident Assistant), William Blagys 鈥�21, Kristopher Mason 鈥�21, Matthew Toth 鈥�20, and Anthony Blatus 鈥�21. Jokes, side comments, and chuckles ensued as I explained the specifics of the interview. Despite the difference in our class years, they made me feel welcome. The main common space is furnished with everything from standard chairs to a gray inflatable seat to a brown couch. The latter was contributed by Kristopher; he explained that it was compact enough to fit in the elevator when moving it to their third floor. Assorted flags, strings of multicolored Christmas lights, and a small calendar added a personal touch to the plain walls.
However, with the number of benefits comes some drawbacks. All of the Suite M residents cite the location of the residence hall and the limited availability of parking. From its spot on the end of the 鈥淔ishbowl,鈥� Feeney Hall feels like a long walk from everything, except the turf field, which it overlooks. Suite M explained that they try to limit the number of trips to the other side of campus because of the time spent walking.
The apartment-style living of the Suites makes it a popular housing choice. Dean of Campus Life, Matt Goodwin, explained part of the process regarding the selection of residence halls:
The Residents of Suite M (L to R): Spencer Wilkinson 鈥�19, Anthony Blatus 鈥�21, Will Blagys 鈥�21, Kristopher Mason 鈥�21, and Matthew Toth 鈥�20. Photo: Reggie Bourn '21
鈥淗ousing selection favors those students who are in good standing with our community鈥� both academically and behaviorally. We do this by identifying a housing 鈥渟core鈥� for each student who is interested in on-campus housing. The housing score is an algorithm tabulated in conjunction with the Registrar鈥檚 Office that takes into account a student鈥檚 academic standing (which class you鈥檙e in i.e., freshmen, sophomore, etc.), GPA, and status in regards to their personal conduct.鈥�
The Director of Residence Life, John Porter, further broke down the specifics of housing selection. 鈥淪tudents who are interested in living in the Suites must fill out and submit an eight-person suite application. The eight students on the application will take their housing scores and find the average. (The Residence Life Office) then takes all of the applications, reviews them聽for accuracy, and comes up with the selection order. The group with the highest score selects first.
The Suites are the most popular housing option that 色虎视频 offers students. If there are no more suite options available, the students may be able to select an 8 person pod, depending on availability. Our office will pre-determine how many suites/pods are available per gender; this is based on the number of returning students. Typically, the Suites will be filled with mostly senior and junior students based around their housing scores.鈥�
One of the first things that came up in our conversation was the benefit of the smaller number of people sharing a bathroom, as opposed to the larger first-year residence halls with thirty or more students per floor. They also love the ample floor plan, including a shared common space in the center of the rooms.
鈥淭here鈥檚 always someone in here,鈥� said Spencer. The others agreed that the suites encourage a style of communal living. Will said, 鈥淵ou trust each other more.鈥� He added that the guys in the suite form a 鈥渃loser friendship.鈥�
Spencer Wilkinson's room in Suite M, Feeney Hall.聽Photo: Reggie Bourn '21.
These five knew each other well beforehand鈥揳 common factor among residents of Feeney Hall鈥揳nd something they consider essential when choosing to room with more than one person. 鈥淵ou have to make sure you can live with them,鈥� said Spencer. Anthony stressed the importance of having 鈥渁 group with a variety of interests,鈥� pointing out the different activities the five of them preferred. He and Matthew joked throughout the interview. When the group got off topic, Spencer brought things back to the current question.
Will talked about how living with a group means that 鈥測ou have to keep an open mind for other people鈥檚 styles. Kris might like the furniture arranged one way, and I prefer another,鈥� he said, gesturing to the number of chairs that fill the common room. 鈥淲e take turns so everyone gets a chance to set it up the way they like it.鈥� The current layout has plenty of space to work, and Will took a moment to show me his work-in-progress drawing of Barack Obama.
The overall sense I got from my visit was that of a strong friendship among the members of Suite M. The suites aren鈥檛 for everyone, but for a group of tight-knit friends looking to find housing together, it鈥檚 the perfect fit.
