4/9
- CREDO came to speak with SGA and presented two scenarios for campus renovations, construction, and changes they’ve formulated after conversations with students in the fall. This is a 10-15 year plan they’re proposing, to renovate our current spaces to what students desire, and to increase the amount of suite-style and apartment-style living on campus. To be clear, the Ridges won’t be going away until this new housing is completed.
- In their scenario ‘A,’ an apartment/townhouse style building would be constructed where Gravel Lot is now, that would have shared living/kitchen spaces between singles and doubles. Warnshuis would be torn down, and the bookstore and health services would be moved. Affinity and identity group spaces in Smith/Burdick (F.R.E.E., the DCC, Lotus Center, etc.) would be moved to Cro, and new community kitchens and spaces could be constructed in Smith/Burdick. In both scenarios, they plan to expand patio spaces, and usage of green areas for outdoor activities.
- In scenario ‘B,’ the apartment/townhouse style building would go where North Lot is now, to give the space a more off-campus feel. This would also be an opportunity to ‘activate’ the space behind Harris, possibly putting in a basketball or sand volleyball court in the ‘fishbowl,’ and new outdoor Harris seating. Smith/Burdick affinity spaces would be shifted around on the first floor to give each group direct access to outdoor spaces, and not be on top of each other, which would also free up space for housing with bathrooms. Unity House would also receive a new patio space.
- They also suggested moving faculty office spaces into Blackstone or Windham, as enrollment drops and less bed space is needed. Some other suggestions included adding suite-style and bathroom-access rooms to JA/Freeman and Smith/Burdick, and creating a shared ‘student engagement space’ in Cro that all clubs, especially those without designated campus spaces, could use to meet and host events. They also spoke about adding elevators to several buildings, and increasing accessible housing in the Old Quad by getting rid of the stairs needed to access buildings, to make the whole campus more ADA compliant and accessible.
- In the Q/A with Credo, they answered several more student questions. They specified that they will be concerned with replacing any parking that is taken away by the new buildings, and also to try to prioritize creating accessible parking. They also expressed their commitment to prioritizing sustainability in both energy efficiency (including improving windows and exteriors in the old quad, which is currently why heating is so expensive), and in building materials and processes, as they get into the design stages with their architects. We discussed together the issue of creating personalized spaces and storage for clubs currently without pre-designated spaces, and explored possibilities of how to utilize the proposed student engagement space in Cro, as well as the possibility of creating additional spaces in the basements of several buildings, as they start to move away from having dorm rooms in basements. Several other things students advocated for include, but are not limited to, places for painting and expression, like Earth House used to be, windows, the one-to-one tree policy, nice spaces for faculty and staff, and keeping Windham as student housing.
- If you have any further questions about CREDO, please feel free to reach out to anyone on SGA, or reach out to the Deans. We will hopefully have a feedback form for students soon.
- We discussed the possibility of implementing environmentally-friendly and less electricity-heavy combination microwave/fridges on campus, and how to make fridge usage more accessible, less expensive, and less taxing on the College’s energy usage, especially in old buildings, where most students have one or more in their dorms. We discussed solutions such as the rental company that the College has only providing micro-fridges, or ResLife possibly providing them as an option to students, and the possibility of waiting to see if community kitchens can be implemented in dorms first. This energy efficiency would allow students with AC accommodations to live in more places across campus, as the energy usage would be more equitably spread out.
- Damage billing will be sent out at the beginning of June, so please check your emails, even if you’re graduating.
- If you’re graduating and have furniture or other items in your apartment that you are not planning on taking with you, please consider donating it to Hearing Youth Voices, a New London based youth advocacy organization inneed of furnishings, bedding, towels, cookware/dishware, school supplies, personal supplies, etc. for their Youth Residential Program, which supports housing insecure young people. Reach out to me or HYV if you’re interested, or with more questions.
4/16
- SGA Executive Board elections, and the referenda for the resolutions described below, go out to students this week. Check your email, tell your friends, and VOTE!
- You must attend your Floralia wristband meeting if you intend to attend Flo. You cannot get in without your wristband. Please check your email for your house’s meeting time!
- Malcolm Levy ‘27 from Spokespeople, the bike and longboard rental organization under the Office of Sustainability, came to present to SGA for Sustainable Projects Fund money to buy new materials and maintenance tools amidst their move from the KB/Larabee tunnel to Blackstone, including a new workbench, bike racks, and other maintenance tools and supplies. The organization offers free rental to students, promotes sustainable modes of transportation, and with the funding could also offer maintenance to other students on campus, and upkeep their own bikes. We will vote on this next week.
- We passed the New SGA System resolution from the Ad Hoc Committee on Student Representation Reformation, and the DEI Co-Chair resolution proposed by Aleks Eikinas ‘26 and Julia Mitchell ‘28, which will now both go to a student-body referendum, before either can be implemented. For more information, please refer to our longer article on the subject.
- If you think a class should have a specific MOI or other designation like W or SDP, please speak to your professor about it. Although you cannot apply it retroactively, it could be helpful for the students that come after you.
- We discussed measures to protect the Native American burial grounds on campus near the waterfront, and how to dissuade students from running on, sledding down, or generally disturbing those grounds. We are looking into hosting more open forums, promoting education on the subject, possibly commissioning artwork for campus from indigenous artists, and other manners of spreading awareness and cultivating understanding.
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