Next to the Ferguson Center expansion, perhaps the most visible representations of the Capstone’s continued growth and change are the new Presidential Village residence hall and recreation center under construction on the Northwest corner of campus. These buildings, as well as the other suite-style residence halls that preceded them, have changed the ways in which The University of Alabama recruits and freshman students interact with each other.
To be sure, this new direction in student housing holds key benefits for Alabama. It is an incredibly powerful recruitment tool and has improved the quality of life on campus. Still, these new residence halls hold decidedly negative implications for living-learning communities on campus that threaten the way in which they operate.
The demolition of the Parker Adams residence hall several years ago displaced the living-learning communities that once occupied it. At the end of this year, Palmer Hall will be demolished and the Mallet Assembly will be moving to the Highlands apartments, effectively ending the organization’s decades’ long tradition of having autonomy over its own building.
While the University has been incredibly accommodating to provide these communities with common areas and options to reduce the higher costs of suite-style living, it is a far cry from the shared space they once held. These organizations have fallen victim to a campus that has shifted to prioritize mega-sized, suite-style residence halls at the expense of smaller, traditional communities. When these organizations needed new homes, there was nowhere to go.
While these new residence halls are a net benefit for the campus, the University still should take steps to reduce collateral damage and preserve these organizations’ way of life. Should the transition away from autonomous buildings and into sharing a large building with other students become permanent, the very aspect of these communities that made them unique from student organizations – autonomy over space – will disappear. As the University rapidly changes, it has a window of opportunity to take action to secure their future.
Fortunately, options exist that do not require the University to change its course with housing or to construct new smaller, traditional-style residence halls. Rather, the solution already exists, albeit on a limited scale, in small-group housing. For years the University has provided small housing units, located on New Row, largely to smaller greek organizations who need a facility to build up in size before moving to a traditionally larger house.
We should build more of them.
These houses have been highly successful in maintaining the aspects of community, autonomy and space necessary for a successful student group. Just ask the many fraternities and sororities that have lived in them.
The benefits are clear. The University of Alabama could provide substantive spaces, constructed of various sizes, for these valued campus communities. These spaces would have the common areas, kitchens and outdoor space that once were enjoyed by these groups. If organizations shifted in size, they could shift in the houses to better fit their needs.
On the other side of the coin, the University would only have to make a relatively small investment in these new houses and would not have to worry about empty bed spaces in a traditional residence hall occupied by one of these organizations. In return, these living-learning communities would continue to function as powerful recruitment and retention tools for the University.
Living-learning communities at the University provide a valuable service to certain students that cannot be replicated elsewhere. The student who would call the Mallet Assembly home would likely not be the same type of person to rush an old row fraternity. It is incumbent upon this university to provide a sustainable, long-term solution to these storied programs. And as this university changes and grows, expanding small group housing might just be the way to go.
John Brinkerhoff is the Opinion Editor of the Crimson White.
