Brainerd

Author: Alex R. Garlick

Housing in Brainerd Commons is just that, pretty common. There really are not any coveted features or signature rooms that draw students to the commons. If anything, Brainerd is notorious for having its commoners emigrate with visions of better housing on their minds.

Most Brainerd first-years start off in Stewart Hall. Stewart has a nice location - close in proximity to McCullough Student Center and Proctor Dining Hall. The rooms inside, however, possess the character of your standard issue minimum-security prison. Each room is identically sized and placed on a gender specific hallway. This creates an awkward situation for the stray male who wanders onto the first, second or fourth exclusively female floors. "I can confirm that there are little eyes coming out of the walls that always watch me on the female floors," said Jefferson Bates '08.5. Stewart is not much of a party dorm - it lacks suites with enough space to really fit people in - so gatherings usually overflow into the hallways. Rooms on the fifth floor are some of the largest first-year rooms on campus, but the high altitude in elevator-less Stewart means quite a hike.

The natural progression for Brainerd students following their first year typically lands them in Hepburn, arguably the flagship of Brainerd housing. Built in 1917 and sitting regally atop the hill next to Mead Chapel, Hepburn projects a majestic air down upon the campus which it towers over. Once inside, however, one is more overwhelmed by the generic design more reminiscent of the 1987 renovation than the "Olde style" façade.

Hepburn is made up of single and double rooms that line its hallways and a cluster of two five-person suites at the ends of each floor. The suites, consisting of a mix of double and single rooms, do not offer much more than a door to block entry and a bathroom for its inhabitants. Since there are not common rooms in the "suites," Hepburn blockmates enjoy a communal hallway and the opportunity to decorate one more door than their neighbors. Hepburn room sizes vary depending on where the room is located on the floor plan - there are spacious options, particularly on the fifth floor, which offset the otherwise snug measures for most rooms. Communal bathrooms and fairly plain lounges with cable television grace three floors, as do a pair of study lounges that offer personalized cubicle space for quiet study. Hepburn does not garner much of a party reputation; however, its residents do enjoy quality sleep on their weekend nights.

Following these two major dorms, the rest of the 420 or so Brainerd residents are slightly scattered across the southwest section of campus. The Brooker and Palmer houses are off the beaten path, but offer a nice homey alternative for students who do not mind a little more hiking in their days. Residents of these houses do not have much to complain of in terms of room space and comfort, but have you ever been there? You probably have not, due to the fact that the houses are out of the way and certainly not central party stations. "The rooms are nice and a pretty good size," said Brendan Smith '07.5, "but if I want to hang out with people I pretty much have to go somewhere else." Brooker sports a beautiful common room and kitchen facilities for its inhabitants. Palmer - or the house formerly known as the ZOO social house - is on some sort of double secret probation and has been relegated to just being a standard house for Brainerd students.

Brainerd also sports part of the Middlebury trailer park - check that, modular housing for upper-classmen. The insides of "the mods" are fairly clean, comfortable and laid out in a logical manner. Although, it is hard to believe that when students applied to this elite institution of higher learning they envisioned themselves studying Robert Frost in modular housing. If you can get over the stereotype, mod residents note that their housing offers huge rooms, multipe private baths, cable television and kitchen/dining/living areas. While the mods may be more "Eight Mile Road" then "Old Stone Row" they do have parking directly out their front door. This is a nice feature residents are not complaining about, especially when it is time to road trip out of the trailer park, or take their car to the gym, thereby avoiding the walk and giving them more time on a treadmill.

The creams of the Brainerd crop are two small six- and five-person houses - 82 Adirondack and Reynolds House. They are quaint and sport great, central locations. "I would contend that it is the best place to live on all of campus," said Mike Lin '05, one of the six seniors enjoying the cable television, back porch and fireplace that 82 Adirondack has to offer. The only problem with these two options is that combined they only house 11 seniors, and Reynolds will be faculty housing this time next year. At press time Brainerd was projected to have significantly more than six seniors next year - this room draw could get pretty ugly.

Many a call has been made for the improvement of housing for the students of Brainerd, students who are growing more and more impatient. Supposedly help is on the way, as upperclassmen housing for Brainerd students is rumored to be somewhere on President Ronald D. Liebowitz's to-do list.