HWS News
13 April 2023 Space for Living and Learning Together
Renovations to residence halls, common areas and Scandling Campus Center spotlight the social side of college life.
Social spaces across campus are getting a glow-up, so that indoors and out, students can find and build community.
“We pride ourselves on being a residential campus, so we want to be sure that there are ample places, formal and informal, where students can get together to collaborate, debate, imagine and create,” says Vice President of Campus Life and Dean of Students Becca Barile. “The student experience is about pursuing new and interesting ideas alongside new and interesting people. We want students to have as many ways into that experience as possible, which is what inspired these renovations.”
The Bartlett Theatre, which was repainted and equipped with new lighting during the fall semester, frequently hosts Campus Activity Board and student club events, from yoga and game nights to the Horticulture Happy Hour and the annual Lunar New Year celebration. The Cellar Pub, adjacent to the theatre, now features a game room, where student clubs regularly meet.
Nine residence hall spaces are being updated to bridge academic and social spaces. In addition to two new social and academic spaces (LLC classrooms) created earlier this spring, Sherrill Hall will soon see a new entry lounge and an outdoor plaza, while the lounge and kitchen in Comstock Hall and Blackwell Hall will be renovated, as will the Hirshson Common Room and the lobby and lounges in Emerson.
In the Scandling Campus Center, in addition to the main lounge already renovated, a new student lounge will offer students a flexible gathering space adjacent to the café, equipped with new lighting, furniture and technology. Lounges in other residence halls, including Hale, Bartlett and Durfee, will receive upgrades in the coming months as well.
Nearly two dozen new Adirondack chairs, made from plastic composites, have been placed around campus such as on William Smith Hill, in the Jackson, Potter and Rees Courtyard, outside of Caird and de Cordova residence halls, around the Quad and near Scandling Campus Center and Cozzens Field.
