Prescott to be Offered as Superblock

Prescott House, former home to Delta before its disbandment in 2013 and current home to 27 first-year students, will be offered as a social house or superblock for the 2014-2015 academic year. Applications and preliminary rosters for superblocks and social houses were due Tuesday, Feb. 18th.

Immediately following the disbandment process of Delta House that took place during spring semester of 2013, the future of Prescott House was in flux.

“The housing component that went along with [the disbandment] was that social houses are both organizations and residences,” said Doug Adams, Associate Dean of Students and Chair of the Residential Life Committee. “When [Delta House] lost their organization they lost their residence. So what that left us with is this hole.”

Prescott House was an effective solution to over-enrollment after high yield numbers pushed the Class of 2017 to 629 students. The decision to use Prescott as first-year housing instead of as a summer draw offering was made through the Dean of Students office in consultation with President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in order to find a solution that best met the interests of the College and first-year students.

“This worked out to be an ideal situation where we were able to put first-years in that location […] and keep a cohesive group which is one of our primary concerns for first-year students. We were able to put 28 first years and 2 FYCs there which was great,” Adams said.

Peter Mattson ’14 who currently serves as an FYC in Prescott House emphasized that the current role of Prescott House as first-year housing has been successful.

“We’ve had very few problems from the outset because [Prescott] feels like a community. In a house like Prescott, it’s a lot easier to promote community standards because it is such a nice house. [The first-years] were given a lot and they returned a lot,” Mattson said.

Adams indicated that the decision to offer Prescott House as a social house or superblock would provide students a social center on campus that would be guided by student interests. However, he emphasized that no preference would be given to social house or superblock applications.

The Residential Life Committee will give institutional support to prospective social house applicants throughout the application process and during the implementation of the new social house. If the SGA decides to postpone the approval of the new social house as an organization, the student group will be given the opportunity to live in Prescott as a superblock. This will give them time to continue to apply for social house status. In contrast, if the prospective social house chooses not to continue the process after their first year in Prescott, they will not be held responsible for creating a long-term social house and will be allowed to opt out of the process.

Adams also indicated that all superblock themes are equally welcome as long as they are willing to abide by the baseline regulations and policies currently in place.

“We want people to follow the basic standards: no dorm damage, personal accountability and responsibility, and respect the rules and regulations with parties,” Adams said. “You can absolutely have a party, that’s expected. You live in a large house. We just expect you follow the rules for parties when you throw them.”

Certain students have identified the need to fill Prescott with a student group that is able to contribute positively to the social scene on campus.

“There is definitely a void in the social scene where [Delta House] used to be and that needs to be filled,” Kristin McDonald ’16 said. “Whoever moves in, whether it be a superblock or [Delta House], at least there will be more variance in the social scene.”

Katherine Kucharczyk ’16, a member of a student group that is applying for Prescott, said, “We all want to meet more people and we feel stuck in the bubble of our dorms, our teams and our classes. I think people come to Prescott events expecting a variety of programming that reflects the diversity of the people that live there.”

According to Adams, there is no long-term plan currently in place for Prescott apart from meeting the current needs and interests of the student body and the College.

When asked if Delta House may return to Prescott in the future, Adams responded, “Whether or not a group of students comes back together and tries to form is really going to be a decision for the SGA and the Community Council. If there is a group that really wants to get together and reform, the question would be ‘Why that group? Why under that name or that connection? Why that historical root as opposed to another?’ […] Whether or not [Delta House] comes back would be questionable, but not impossible.”