The Niedfeldt Residence group photos that line the halls and the basement of the dorm now include three groups of women hidden among the tradi- tionally male residents.
“We are excited to get our faces on the wall for sure,” said junior Jessica Youngstrom, Nied- feldt house director.
At the close of the spring semester, Niedfeldt was a men’s dorm while Koon Residence was a women’s dorm. In June, the resident assistants were told they would have to switch residences because of the number of women that were attending Hillsdale College in the fall semester. The freshmen women outnumber the freshmen men almost three to two.
Dean of Men Aaron Petersen said the switch is only expected
to last one year, as Niedfeldt is designed specifically for men.
“If you go into Whitley [Resi- dence] and Niedfeldt, you’ll notice a striking resemblance, but you’ll also see that one was designed for men and the other for women: One is cinderblock and the other is drywall,” he said, laughing. “We built [Nied- feldt] with a men’s residence in mind.”
This year was the first since 1993 that Niedfeldt has been used as a women’s residence.
“It wasn’t unprecedented,” said senior Greg Barry, Koon house director, “but it was kind of a shock.”
Koon, on the other hand, has gone back and forth between housing men and women over the years, and Petersen said that when he attended Hillsdale, it was a men’s dorm,” Petersen said of Koon. Petersen said that college did not have a clear picture of the number of men and women that would be attending Hillsdale in the fall until around June, which is when they contacted the RAs, alerted them to the change, and worked with them to plan and prepare for the switch.
“They [the administration] were very accommodating,” Barry said. “We are grateful for their help.”
Youngstrom said she got a call from Dean of Women Diane Philipp in June. After being told the situation, they began to discuss plans for the switch and Youngstrom said she had a hard time considering herself a Niedfeldt resident.
“I told Dean Philipp, ‘I just need a moment to process that,’” Youngstrom said. “’I can’t even think that or say that without laughing right now.’”
Because Koon is a smaller dorm, three of the seven Nied- feldt RAs moved to Simpson, while the women had to hire a few extra.
Koon, with 26 beds, is about half the size of Niedfeldt, said Peterson.
“It’s even smaller, which I like,” Barry said of Koon. “It was disappointing, but it’s going to be a great time in Koon and a great community.”
Both Barry and Youngstrom acknowledged that Niedfeldt and Koon had their own identi- ties and personalities before the switch, but they said they hope to build a new atmosphere and community in their new loca- tions.
“They did a good job of say- ing we won’t let the change in location effect our fellowship,” Petersen said. “They’re going to maintain the fellowship and some traditions.”
Youngstrom said one way they hope to create their own Niedfeldt legacy is claiming their own nickname. One of the more popular nicknames for the dorm in the past had been “Nerdfeldt” among others.
“I’ve been trying to get rid of the names,” Youngstrom said. “We’re still taking ideas for a good nickname.”
Barry, on the other hand, said that the nickname “Koonfeldt” is already catching on.
In the meantime, Youngstrom and Barry said they would continue to try and build com- munity in their respective dorms and become comfortable with calling it home.
“It wasn’t like it smelled like boys or anything. We just wanted to feminize it a little,” Youngstrom said. “It really is a nice dorm.”
