| My D only has experience in 2 halls thus far. She was in Trever last year and is an RA in Hiett this year. My take is that residence life is pretty decent. The RAs put together programs and a good number (but certainly not all) residents take advantage of them from time to time throughout the year. The residence halls are clean and well-maintained from what I have seen.
The alcohol use on campus is what I would call "relaxed" meaning that it is not promoted in any way and underage drinking is discouraged but some students have alcohol in the residence halls and there are a few fraternities on campus so there is alcohol there also. To my knowledge, the administration does not do random checks for alcohol in rooms, for example nor would they expel an underage student for underage drinking, I don't think. My observation is that alchohol use is common on campus but not as central to campus life as it is on, say, a Big 10 campus. The students tend to stay on campus and do not, in any large numbers, frequent the bars downtown that I can tell. I think this is a very good thing. Campus security has a pretty strong presence and if students are found to have had excessive alcohol, security will get them to the ER -- this is NOT a common occurrence but it does happen from time to time. Overall, my sense is that the role of alcohol on campus is moderate. My frame of reference is my own regional university experience and midwest Big 10 campuses (very strong alcohol presence). To my knowledge, the substance-free rules are followed in Kohler. For some residents, that means they do not drink or otherwise indulge and for others, it probably means that they do but don't want it happening where they live.
To your final question, residence halls are not segregated by groups although many conservatory students do request residence halls closer to the conservatory for convenience.
Good luck -- we think Lawrence is a wonderful school. |