New Social House to Fill Prescott

The Community Council and President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz have approved a proposal for a new social house on campus located in Prescott House, the former location of Delta. The new Chromatic House will provide artistically-minded students with a place to live, practice, collaborate, and showcase their work.

Hannah Giese ’16, Emma Gee ’16 and Jackie Wyard-Yates ’16.5 are behind the proposal for the new social house.

“We were looking at housing options for next year and saw that applications for a new social house were being accepted,” said Gee. “There is not a house on campus where arts-oriented people can live, so we decided to jump on it and take the opportunity.”

Giese, Gee and Wyard-Yates submitted their proposal through several organizations, including the Residential Life Council, Student Government Association (SGA) Constitution Committee, SGA Budget Committee, and finally to President Liebowitz.

“It’s a great environment for creativity to flourish on campus,” Giese said. “The house also gives students room for activities that they could not do in a dorm room. We want to make a ‘mess room’ in the house where you can paint, which is not practical in a dorm room. If you play an instrument in a dorm, you may disturb neighbors. It is a good way to benefit musicians who don’t want to trek to the Mahaney Center for the Arts.”

A diverse array of interests will occupy the house next year.

“We have members from all seven a capella groups, choir, orchestra, jazz band, jazz combos, independent student musicians, DJs on the radio, members of the pep band, people in musicals, music majors, actors, directors, people in improv groups, people in Riddim, writers for the Campus, writers for MiddBeat, people interested in culinary art, people interested in photography, Film and Media Culture majors and more” Giese said.

“The group of students living in the house next year is truly a group of arts and musically inclined people who are seeking a place to perfect their craft,” Wyard-Yates said.

Chromatic House will provide a space for a capella and improvisation groups to practice, as well as a space for students to display their work for students and staff to admire.

“Down the road, we hope that this house will encourage more live performances on the radio and more collaboration among students,” Wyard- Yates said.

The founders of the house focused on inclusivity as a defining feature of the new social house. “One of the reasons why we think we’re going to be different is that we want to include all people who are interested in art, even those who do not consider themselves particularly talented,” Gee said. “It’s not about talent. It’s about level of interest and about having a place where people can share this.”

“That’s why it’s great that this is a social house,” Wyard-Yates added. “It can act as a central arts hub, and we can have people who are members of the organization without living there.”

Other students are excited about the opportunity for variation in the social scene.

“I hope that Chromatic will provide a new kind of social scene on campus,” said SGA President Rachel Liddell ’15, a member of the Community Council. “I think they will host events that appeal to students who are not drawn to other parties thrown in Ridgeline but who still desire to socialize on the weekends. Chromatic will foster the artist in all of us.”

“Middlebury also lacks a middle ground in our party scene, especially for first-years and sophomores who don’t have their own party space,” Liddell said. “Chromatic could fill that middle ground with smaller, music- and art-based gatherings.

“There are always going to be arts organizations on campus and the interest will always be there, so this is a sustainable idea,” Gee said. “It makes sense in the long run.”