While many freshmen enter college with images of wild nights at frat parties, at Tufts a rising number of students are choosing to live on floors where alcohol is banned and residents are held to high standards of conduct.
Though big rooms - even on "healthy living floors" - may look good to anyone at the bottom of the housing lottery, most residents of these floors say they appreciate the tame atmosphere and insist that they live there by choice.
Although recent studies indicate that substance-free housing is beneficial to students, Tufts is unable to meet student demand for healthy living rooms. Researchers with Harvard's School of Public Health found that lower drinking rates in healthy living areas meant that students were less likely to experience alcohol-related problems, such as vandalism and violence. Healthy living residents are also less likely to ride with a drunk driver or drive while drunk, the study found.
At Tufts, the housing crunch is an oft-debated issue. But while students typically complain about the lack of singles or suite-style dorms, they are far less likely to point to the number of students who request healthy living dorms, but are not granted them.
"The demand is much greater than the supply," Residential Life Coordinator Dean Gendron said.
According to Gendron, healthy living requests are on the rise, and residential life can no longer provide sufficient accommodations. Of the 259 rooms designated as healthy living, Tufts offers a mixture of doubles and singles on the first floor of Carmichael Hall, the third floor of South Hall, and the third, fourth, and fifth floors of Hill Hall.
Gendron said that the University will continue to develop its healthy living program to keep pace with student needs. After all, he said, 52 of the 259 available rooms are located in Carmichael Hall, which has only had a healthy living program for the past three years. "There is constantly talk about changing that number," Gendron said.
"The demand has increased, and as the University talks about evaluating the way that residential life is developing and evolving according to student needs, there will be more opportunity to increase the number of healthy living spaces," he said.
In addition to life without rowdy inebriated students, residents say they enjoy the smoke-free environment. With 259 smoke-free rooms on campus, students who smoke are more concentrated, frustrating some neighbors. "I didn't want a roommate who smoked," said one female freshman living in Hill Hall.
With healthy living spaces in demand, some are skeptical of students who chose the rooms for their large floor space or attractive location but have not given up their commitment to the rowdy nightlife. And despite the contract that students living on healthy living floors sign, the punishments for violations of Tufts' drug and alcohol policies are uniform from floor to floor.
Officials at the Office of Residential Life say it is difficult to prohibit students who choose substance-free housing in search of luxurious rooms. But those committed to the healthy living lifestyle say the program still serves its purpose.
Most of the freshmen participating in the healthy living program say they did so for their personal well-being. While some students admit that their parents influenced their decision, most say they are happy with their decision.
A group of 140 freshmen requested healthy living this year. No freshmen were placed into healthy living if they did not select the option on their residential life mailing.
But those who desired a substance-free environment insist that they did not give up their right to party. Said one freshman in Hill Hall: "We get our work done and at the same time, we have fun."
