Community Council Update

On Monday Mar. 10, Community Council met to discuss the proposal of the new Chromatic Social House, continuing last week’s discussion. During the meeting, the Council passed the motion to recommend the approval of the house to Ronald Liebowitz, President of the College. This new organization will reside in Prescott House, the former location of Delta.

After the disbandment of Delta last spring, the Residential Life Committee decided to offer it as either a social house or a superblock for the 2014-2015 academic year, and reviewed applications for both. Doug Adams, Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life, discussed the process through which the committee reviewed the applications.

“The final debate process took place overlapping the social house applications and the superblock applications in determining what the best fit is for the campus, what will add to the social scene of the campus and what will diversify the social scene of the campus,” Adams said.

The new Chromatic House will focus on promoting student arts. It will provide more practice and performance space for music students as well as a space to display student artwork. The organization had already been approved by the Student Government Association and the Residential Life Committee when the Community Council meeting took place.

Many members of the Council thought that the house would enrich the social and especially art scene at Middlebury.

“One thing I really see at Middlebury is this desire to create a dichotomy between ‘this is me and this is my resume and this is what I do after class’ and the party scene, which looks so disparate,” said President of the Student Government Association Rachel Liddell ’15. “I think it’s a good message to say your interest as a person can be connected to how you spend a Friday night. […] It’s nice to recognize that this type of socialization is social.”

Luke Carroll Brown ’14, Co-Chair of Community Council, holds a similar view.

“When I came to Middlebury, and for many of my friends, there is this understanding that social houses represent that college scene we saw in movies like Animal House,” Brown said. “That is not at all what it is when you ask the house members, but it is an anticipated understanding of how you act in these circumstances and places … I see broadening our understanding of social houses to be a very good thing, something that might help current social houses that have a more of a fraternal feel and for those that don’t.”

A few members of the Council, however, felt that making the house a social house would not work so well.

“I think this house is a great idea […] but calling it a social house would, in my view, be a real loss,” said Professor of American Studies and English and American Literatures Will Nash. “There is a special interest here, which is tied to the curriculum, and that is not what the social house scene is about. […] There is a mechanism for us on campus for us to have people who want to live together who have a common interest that the curriculum serves, and that mechanism is the special interest house.”

Chris Thompson from the Department of Public Safety also voiced his concerns.

“How many nights are you going to have live bands playing down there where people are going to be strolling in with alcohol?” Thompson asked. “Then you have all these artworks on display … The last thing you want is getting someone’s artwork getting destroyed because there are a bunch of kids going down there with alcohol to listen to live music.”

The Council moved to vote on the motion to recommend the approval of Chromatic House as a new social house to President Liebowitz. The motion passed with sixteen in support and one abstention. If President Liebowitz approves the house, it will gain social house status in the fall.