Residential Life plans for expansive dorm improvements

Upon entering the aging and decrepit residence building on Whittier Colleges’ campus, the problems are clear. A student is immediately greeted by the strong stench of body odor and battered, dirty furniture. Bland, pastel painted walls and ancient, fecal colored carpet fill the interior of the lounge. Walking up the rickety stairs, waves of 90+-degree heat turn a student’s forehead into a watershed of sweat. The interior of the third floor of Stauffer Residence hall, which is home to nearly 210 freshmen, matches the same poor quality of the lounge. A dimly lit room filled with cheap and bulky furniture, which surely has been used over the past thirty years welcomes a student clambering up to his room after a long day of classes. Pale yellow blinds, barely cover a cracked window and rusty frame. The sound of toilet water flushing through overstressed plumbing echoes throughout the walls.

It’s not surprising that some students who reside in the dorms for the academic year at Whittier College wonder, “How am I spending nearly $7,000 dollars a year to live here?”

In fact, in 2013, the Princeton Review compiled a list of the top ten colleges in the United States with the worst dorms. Among public and private schools, military and liberal art colleges, Whittier College ranked ninth. First on the list was the United States Marine Academy, followed by Tuskegee University, the University of New Mexico, the United States Coast Guard Academy, University of Washington, Hampton University, College of the Ozarks, and United States Naval Academy. Following Whittier College in ninth place, Alfred University was ranked at tenth in the country.

“One of the biggest issues Whittier College faces is the extremely poor quality of dorms,” said sophomore Maddie McMurray as she sat in the lounge of Harris Residence Hall. Harris, a nearly thirty-year-old residence hall, was one of the few Residence halls to receive minimal improvements over the summer. “The majority of the furniture is old, broken, and heavily used. The carpet smells musty, toilets clog frequently, and the [interior] rooms haven’t been painted in quite some time,” McMurray added, pointing out the sorry condition of her room. “Apparently last year, Harris A [building] was home to termites and when it rains the ceilings of the rooms on the top floor cave in.”

Whittier College is a residential community where only 50 percent of students live on campus in one of the nine residential halls: Stauffer, Johnson, Turner, Ball, Wardman, Arbor Ridge, Harris, Campbell, and Wanberg. Residence halls house between 30 to 200 students in unique, individually designed buildings.

If McMurray’s room sounds familiar, help is on the way. Since 2013 the Office of Residential Life has been working hard to improve the quality of life in the Residence halls. In an email sent out to all Whittier College students in September 2015, Associate Dean of Students Andre Coleman stated, “As a College, we started the change process by truly listening to what you had to say. It was hard to hear, but what you shared was accurate, honest and truthful. It became clear to us that we had to improve…and quickly! September 2013 marked a new era for Residential Life with new leadership and structure, a new mission statement, as well as a renewed commitment to improving the residential living learning experience.”

Coleman went on to state, “Our new structure has allowed us to become more responsive through the creation of three Assistant Director (AD) positions. One position in particular, the Assistant Director for Operations role was developed specifically to improve the residence halls.” In November 2013, Residential Life conducted a survey to assess the need for improvements and collect student feedback on the quality of the dorms.

According to Assistant Director of Residential Life and Operations, Felirose Tamparong the department plans to make renovations in all buildings simultaneously as opposed to focusing on one building at a time. “We firmly believe that all residents should experience an improved living environment and not get lucky with one building at a time,” said Tamparong.

The new improvements over the coming seven years include: replacement of all room furniture (beds, desks, chairs and mattresses), new carpeting/floor coverings, upgrading common area furniture, room and general painting (scheduled for every five years), refurbishing kitchens, remodeling bathrooms, new building signage, resurfacing room doors, “keyless” room entry, and adding residential amenities such as indoor and outdoor gaming areas, and recreation areas.

Work started this past summer to revamp and enhance the dorms. A 16-student crew painted every room in Stauffer, Johnson, Turner, Wanberg, and Ball halls. Residential Life executed the following upgrades: created outdoor living areas (Ball, Turner & Harris A/B/C/D buildings), renovated Turner’s kitchen, constructed the Wanberg Kitchen, new carpeting (Johnson, Ball, Turner & Wanberg), new common area/lounge furniture in all residence halls, renovation of Ball Basement into a student lounge for residential students, developed the Ball Dance Studio, created “The Cellar” Sports Lounge (Wanberg Basement), installed water saving landscaping (Wanberg, Harris, Ball, & Johnson), installed new water saving/low flow shower heads in all halls, and upgraded all laundry facilities with web enabled smart machines.

While students are appreciative of the works so far, many feel swift and further, more severe action must be taken. “I have lived on campus for all four years and have been disappointed with the recent efforts of Residential Life,” said senior, Wanberg Hall resident, Kevin Marquez. “New keys are nice, but what about adding air conditioning to the buildings, improving the WiFi, or building new residence halls that are up to date with other schools in SCIAC’s.”

At the beginning of the Fall 2014, construction began on the state-of-the-art Science and Learning center. According to Whittier College, the project will include complete renovation of the existing foundation, additions of media-ready classrooms, flexible teaching laboratories, research wet and dry laboratories, collaboration pods, and rooftop colloquia, among other facilities. The project is estimated to cost $52.5 million dollars, and is being funded by grants and tuition dollars.

Students have also expressed concern regarding the renovation of the Science and Learning Center. “I understand that the Science Center was also in desperate need of improvements. However, students spend maybe one to three hours daily in the [Science] center whereas they live, sleep, and study in dorms, which are in just as poor quality if not worse,” continued McMurray. “As tuition continues to rise, I can’t help but feel that all of my money is going to building the Science Center and mediocre attempts and temporary fixes are being enacted upon the residence halls.”