The women’s residence halls have shifted gears all across campus this year.
The Townhouses and Koon Residence both became women’s dorms. New Dorm and Benzing Residence welcomed freshmen and returning upperclassmen, marking a new approach to the women’s dorm life which typically has kept freshmen and upperclassmen segregated.
All of these changes have meant focusing on the best way to build dorm culture in women’s residence life.
For many students, dorm life on campus has served as a seedbed for friendships and a key part of their college experience.
“It’s a place you can come back to and relax and feel safe, and know that there’s going to be a community of people who care about you,” said junior Kate Pipher, head resident assistant in Olds Residence.
For senior Greta Dornbier, head RA in Mauck, Hillsdale’s emphasis on building healthy dorm culture is unique, and part of its commitment to partnership; it allows students to experience that partnership in their daily lives.
“We talk about college being a partnership, and we have our slogan: ‘It’s the people,’ and all these things at Hillsdale, and I really think dorm culture is an integral part of those things,” she said. “Honestly, looking back on my own experience, some of my best friends and my best friendships have been formed from the dorm community.”
The dorm culture serves as an opportunity to form good relationships with people and provide a gateway to community, according to Dornbier.
“Moral character is a huge part of a Hillsdale education, and you really can’t do that without community and friendship. I think the dorms are a big part of that education,” Dornbier said.
While different communities define dorm culture in different ways, common themes of service and self-giving quickly emerge.
Dorm culture is centered on the residents, allowing them to participate in the community, junior Ciara Carr, head RA in Koon, said.
“[It’s about] what are those factors that make us unique, and, for us, it’s like the fun that you find in New Dorm, the friendships that you’re going to make, and that you are a part of this legacy of women across campus,” said sophomore Caitie Dugan, an RA in New Dorm.
This year, the college has integrated freshmen into Benzing and New Dorm, which were traditionally upperclassmen dorms.
“The girls have so much more energy, we have to make sure that we’re doing enough events that the freshmen feel like they know all of the girls in the dorm,” Dugan said.
The change will provide opportunities for freshmen to seek mentorship from upperclassmen, while bringing a new energy to dorm events and a new understanding of dorm identity, Dugan said.
“Speaking from my experience, and my experience as a freshman once, I think one of the hardest things about freshman year is that you don’t have mentorship,” Dornbier said. “My freshman year, I remember really wanting that and kind of needing that.”
Dugan said she hopes freshmen, who are usually more invested in dorm culture than upperclassmen, will help revitalize and renew commitment to the dorm.
“Freshmen look so much to find their community within the dorm, whereas upperclassmen have those communities already built in,” Dugan said. “For us, a challenge especially this year has been: how do we bring the upperclassmen into wanting to be in that dorm culture?”
The RA’s in New Dorm have already seen more participation in dorm activities, including at the tailgating event last Saturday, Dugan said.
If integrating freshmen into traditionally upperclassmen dorms goes well, the RAs hope the college will do so in future years.
“I don’t see it not going well, you’ve got the experience of the seniors and people who’ve done it for a long time, then you’ve also got the energy of the freshmen,” Pipher said.
Although resident assistants say they are excited to see the changes that integrating freshmen will bring to the culture in women’s dorms, Dornbier also recognized that there is a danger to spreading freshman out too much across the many women’s dorms on campus.
“I think if we were to fully integrate women’s dorms you’d have to do it very carefully, especially because we have so many different women’s dorm buildings,” she said.
As they prepare for Homecoming, the members of New Dorm are excited to take part and to express their sense of identity as an integrated women’s dorm on campus, Dugan said.
“It’s cool to be in New Dorm, it’s cool to have pride,” she said. “I think they’re going to take that into Homecoming Week, and it’s gonna be really cool to watch, so I’m very excited.”