Social Scene Question and some other questions also

crnchycereal
Sat, 16 Sep 2006 21:13:27 +0000

Nope, no exclusive houses at Williams. Every house has a gender cap (i.e. no house can be above 60% of any given gender), and there are no restrictions as to who can pick in where. At least, that used to be true until the cluster system was implemented. As it stands, one can only pick into a house located in one’s cluster. Unless you haven’t already heard, Williams’ cluster housing system splits all campus housing into 4 clusters (Currier, Spencer, Dodd, and Wood). In theory, this was done to instill a certain amount of “cluster pride” amongst the student body (i.e. via inter-cluster competitions, parties thrown by specific clusters, etc.). I
The cluster system was also implemented in order to eliminate a perceived sense of self-segregation amongst the students. Under the free agent system, it became apparent that certain students were sticking to certain locales on campus. For example, Currier cluster was once known as the “Odd Quad” because many students living in it were seen as being a little off-beat. The student makeup of Currier cluster is now vastly different from that of prior years. That said, I would say that most students on campus get along fairly well. You’ll always find some malcontent, and one does not necessarily expect an extremely studious introvert to mingle with heavy drinkers. But for the most part, kids socialize across athletic, organizational, or affiliative boundaries.
Freshmen get a pretty nice deal in terms of housing. If you live in the freshmen quad, sharing a double can get tight, but that’s offset by the fact that common rooms are huge. Moreover, all frosh quad JA common rooms have been newly furnished w/ couches, flat-panel TVs, and DVD players. If you live in Mission, you are virtually guaranteed a single (and the few doubles scattered throughout are sizable). Mission singles are not enormous, but they are more than spacious enough for the needs of most freshmen.