Shortly after rush ended, students began to mosey. Mosey is a two-week period of time where people can visit any of the University-owned cooperative houses to see which they’d like to apply to live in the next semester. Starting with an open house from 1 – 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, interested students could visit and take tours of all of the coops. People could get to know members of the houses and attend the events at the coops such as a gaming night, a dessert night and even a yoga night.
“Mosey is kind of a play on rush because it’s a smaller scale version of rush and we don’t have any of the screaming,” said David Marshak ’07, president of Triphammer Cooperative. He said that people interested in living in Triphammer could come to the house one night to cook during mosey since Triphammer has a meal plan five nights a week. There were six open spots in Triphammer this semester.
People often ask Marshak what a coop is.
“It’s a community where people live together, some have meal plans, they don’t have [Resident Advisors] or faculty in residence; you have to do small chores, but that’s part of what makes it one of the cheaper housing options,” he explained. He said that the best people for coops are people who want to be in a community setting who don’t mind a little responsibility, with weekly chores and a cooking group, and who like the feel and atmosphere it creates.
After two weeks, all of the coops notified applicants if they were accepted or put on the waitlist. This was a change from last year when responses differed between houses and should make it easier for people interested in more than one house.
“The whole idea of mosey is to relax, not to have a stressful time in searching for housing,” said Christina Hilo ’07, vice president of Watermargin. Events at Watermargin included a yoga night, poker, board games and a bake-off. This year, 40 people were vying for the three open spots at Watermargin.
“We’re pretty casual about the mosey process,” said Silvia Korchumova ’06, president of Von Cramm. People interested in living in Von Cramm cook dinner with a cooking group during mosey since the coop has a meal plan. According to Korchumova, it gives everyone the opportunity to see what it’s like to be in the kitchen making soup in a 20-gallon pot. Students are also invited to have dinner at the coop.
“Dinner is our way at the coop of coming together and getting to know each other,” she said.
For all of the coops, mosey attracts mostly freshmen and sophomores. There are usually international and exchange students living in Von Cramm, the majority coming from two universities in Sweden, according to Korchumova.
There were only two open spots at Prospect of Whitby this year, according to Emily Hurst ’08, co-president of the coop. She said that the coop is co-ed, and that they try to maintain an equal ratio of men and women. Because of this, Whitby had to turn away a lot of interested female applicants.
“It’s a really great self-selecting process because coops are so varied,” Hurst said.
“It’s a period of ‘auditioning coops,’ the equivalent of rush, but nowhere near as stressful, as far as I know,” said Jenica Abram ’07, house manager of 302 Wait. There were two mosey events at 302 Wait this year: a game night and a dessert night for which she baked cinnamon chocolate chip scones.
“Mosey was really fun for me; I had a good time and getting in was just the icing on the cake,” Abram said.
The decision process varies for each coop, ranging from lotteries to interviews. Mosey started earlier this year, in order to run parallel with program house applications and finish prior to the West Campus Housing Lottery, according to Julie Paige, assistant director for community development. Paige, the Campus Life liaison to the eight University-owned coops, said that this year students will sign housing contracts online using StarRez instead of using paper contracts. She said that Campus Life is in charge of initial advertising for coops, including the Housing Fair and the Open House that starts mosey.
The eight University-owned coops that participate in mosey are: Prospect of Whitby, 660 Stewart, 302 Wait, 308 Wait, Triphammer Cooperative, Von Cramm, Wari and Watermargin.
Archived article by Vanessa Hoffman
Sun Senior Writer