Duke Dorm

As summer approaches, Davidson College finds itself in the midst of major campus living renovations, both in buildings and policies.

Students have been witness to the renovation of Duke dorm (photo) — next to the college union — through the school year, as it progressed from a hole in the ground in September to a nearly complete structure now. Meanwhile, renovation of the Cunningham fine arts building will begin soon.

And in a policy change that may be as significant as any bricks-and-mortar alteration, the college next fall will allow men and women students to live together in some apartments and suites.

ENERGY EFFICIENT

According to college newspaper The Davidsonian, the renovated Duke will be the “first building on campus certified by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” a certification that focuses on energy-saving designs. The expanded dorm will consist of sets of double rooms connected by bathrooms, a style similar to the suites in Tomlinson dorm. It also will be the first student dorm outside of the Senior Apartments to have balconies.

Project Engineer Ronnie Shirley said the project is on track for completion on or before Aug. 1. With such a major renovation, Mr. Shirley said, builders “run into things you really don’t expect to run into, [such as] permitting challenges,” which have been the cause of most of the delays in building.

According to campus officials, the renovation will add 2,600 square feet to the dorm, which is the equivalent of about 35 beds. The building also will house the Dean Rusk International Studies Program.

The Dean Rusk program will incorporate three housing communities into campus living next year, two of which will be theme halls within the newly renovated Duke dormitory: The Political and Economic Development theme hall, and the “Spanish Language and Culture” theme hall, whose residents will be expected to make an effort to speak Spanish in the dorm when possible.

Off campus, Residence Life also will introduce a new “Ecological Co-operative,” which will provide ten students the chance to share living arrangements while working on campus events and programs that raise awareness about environmental issues. All three communities have been assigned Davidson professors as advisors, with whom they will work closely throughout the year.

OTHER RENOVATIONS

Elsewhere on campus, Cunningham Fine Arts building is scheduled to undergo renovation this summer. David Holthouser, Davidson’s director of physical plant, said the renovation is slated to begin this July, and should be completed by August 2008.

The renovation will include improvements to Hodson Hall, the theater in the center of the Cunningham building which is used only rarely now since the opening of Duke Family Performance Hall in the college union.

The renovated building will be tailor-made to fit the theater department’s needs: According to Mr. Holthouser, Hodson Hall’s floor will be leveled to create a new “flexible theater space,” which will allow for the hall to be configured into multiple seating and performing arrangements.

Cunningham currently houses a scene shop, where many of the sets of Davidson’s productions are built, which will also be expanded. The new theater offices will be located on the side of the building facing Main Street, which will finally have windows.

REVISED LIVING RULES

Just as significant as physical improvments in campus housing is a major renovation of Davidson’s housing policy: Effective this fall, men and women will be able live together in the same apartment or suite.

Leslie Marsicano, who has been the Director of Residence Life at the college for six years, said the change came at the request of students. The only rooms this policy change will affect are the suites in Tomlinson dormitory and the Senior apartments, neither of which are open to freshmen. These are all housing situations where students can share a living space but have separate bedrooms.

Ms. Marsicano pointed out that co-ed housing is not new to Davidson College, “We’ve had co-ed for 15 years at Davidson College in the sense that men and women live in the same building with 24/7 visitation [between the sexes].”

The idea of revising the co-ed policy hs been discussed among students and faculty for the past several years. Students have been requesting the option for several years, and this year enough students asked about the possibility that the Student Government Association encouraged the Residence Life Office to study other schools with similar policies.

Ms. Marsicano reported that RLO found that “of fourteen co-ed colleges included in the U.S. News & World Report Top 15 liberal arts colleges, 8 had [this revised version] of co-ed housing.”

Before going into effect, the resolution “passed overwhelmingly” in the SGA, and was presented to the Campus Council on Religious Life and President Vagt. The CCRL supported the revised policy and President Vagt sought advice from various sources before agreeing to RLO’s proposed two-year trial period.

Because of the late announcement of this new living option, only 5 of the available 82 Senior Apartments will be co-ed this fall. At the end of the two-year pilot program, RLO plans to examine the results to see what was effective and how they can update the policy.