The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) is moving towards creating a third all-freshmen dorm next year to be located in Hill Hall, but some problems remain before plans can be finalized.
"Chances are good it will be here by next year," Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said.
One major obstacle that remains is what to do with the 21 single rooms in Hill Hall, since all freshmen are required to live in doubles, or in a small number of cases, in triples.
"We've always had a policy that first years don't get singles, because part of the policy is that you have to have a roommate for at least one year," Reitman said.
Another potential hurdle to the new all freshmen dorm is the effect on the other dorms, because according Reitman, "If you create an all-freshman [dorm], by default you also create an all-sophomore dorm."
Reitman said that while Tufts has "always believed in mixed-class residence facilities ... that this is a bit of a misnomer, because there are mostly first and second-year students [in those] so that's why [adding Houston to the program] was not a large departure."
But the overwhelming popularity of all-freshman dorms has turned creating a third one into a top [priority.]
The first dorm for first-years, Tilton Hall, initiated the program six years ago and can currently house approx. 130 students. About 600 students have applied for the program in each of the last few years, however.
And even after adding Houston Hall to the program last year, interested students ended up disappointed due to lack of space. "We were still turning away about 200 people," Reitman said.
Reitman attributed the popularity of all freshmen dorms to the fact that "it gives [first-year students] the maximum chance to meet other first-year students who are going though the same things."
Former Tilton and Houston residents echoed this sentiment. Sophomore and former Houston Hall resident Aditya Nochur said living in Houston "gave me the chance to meet a lot of people and form some really close friendships."
Other students said they relished the dorms' festive atmosphere. "You're all freshmen; you're all in it together, you want to party together," sophomore and former Houston resident Jeff Remis said.
But some students have complained that all-freshman dorms are not conducive to studying. Remis said that Houston was "kind of chaotic at times [with] everyone running around pre-gaming."
However, "When the dorm needed to be quiet, it was, like during the week," Remis said.
Former residents said the most serious problem last year was the destruction of a sink in one of the bathrooms in Houston Hall, but that the incident wasn't characteristic of freshman dorms in
general.
"When the sink was broken off because of drunkards then [the RAs] got really pissed," sophomore and former Houston resident Anjin Stewart-Funai said. But she added that she "didn't notice any differences"
