Students living on the West Campus this year have told me, in great detail, what it is like to be living in a construction zone. The heavy equipment, which starts operating punctually at 8 a.m., ensures no problems waking up for an early class. But sleeping in after a late night of studying is simply not an option. Unfortunately, noise, dust and disruption are facts of current West Campus life.
Partly in response to the stress caused by the construction, we have put the West Campus project on an accelerated schedule so that it should be completed two years earlier than originally planned. So, in the fall of 2008, construction of all five new residence halls on West Campus will be complete, and the following year, in the fall of 2009, they will all be operating on the residential house model. As Alice Cook House Professor and Dean Ross Brann wrote in a Sun blog on Nov. 12, “The Class of 2008 will be the last Cornell class with any memories of West Campus before the West Campus House System opened its first house, the Alice Cook House, in August 2004.”
When fully operational the house system will provide housing for approximately 1,800 continuing students, five house professor-deans, five assistant deans, 29 graduate resident fellows, 15 student assistants and 150 house fellows. I am convinced that the house system provides a valuable housing option for students. Recent experience has shown that the current residential houses (Alice Cook, Carl Becker, Hans Bethe Houses) fill first in the housing lottery, presumably because they are new and have so many amenities. But the programming they provide — including the chance to get to know faculty members better in a non-classroom setting and to hear special presentations by our own faculty and outside speakers — must also be of appeal to our students. The students I’ve met at the Becker House, where I am a house fellow, and at the other houses I’ve visited have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the special opportunities available to them as residents.
As attractive as the residential houses are, they are not the only housing option open to students after the first year. In fact, the number of beds available on West Campus when the five houses are complete will be virtually the same as before the project began. Apartments in Collegetown, traditional residence halls, co-ops, the Greek houses and program houses all provide important alternatives for Cornell students. As part of the Cornell continuing commitment to freedom with responsibility, Cornell continues to let people live where they want beyond the first year. More than 50 percent of undergraduates and 85 percent of graduate students do not live in university housing.
In my discussions with undergraduates in the last year and a half, this element of choice has been universally endorsed and suggests a continuation of all of the options, so long as they are well-subscribed and appear financially viable.
For example, the Cornell fraternity and sorority system — with more than 60 chapters — provides housing for approximately 1,500 students and about one-third of the Cornell student body participates in Greek life (not always as live-in members of a house).
We won’t know in the last analysis the full impact of the West Campus house system until all five houses are open and offering full residential house programming. But from what I have seen and heard and experienced as a Becker House fellow, I’m very optimistic about this approach to residential life. While it is not intended to threaten our other housing choices, it will challenge those providing student housing to be sure that their facilities and programming are attractive to students. The new Noyes Recreation and Community Center has, I am told by students, helped make the West Campus “neighborhood” into a more cohesive community. The house system provides a positive dimension to residence life, and I encourage you to consider living on West Campus as you make your plans for next year.
I also hope you continue to share your housing experiences, both on campus and off, with me so that we can continue our dialogue and fine-tune our efforts to combine learning and living at Cornell in ways that will bring the greatest benefits to our students. Your input is critical to this effort.
David J. Skorton is the President of Cornell University. He can be contacted at david.skorton@cornell.edu. From David appears every month.