Living on Campus In centering our academic attention upon one of the physical needs of Trinity, a new dormitory unit, we should not forget that a college is an idealistic institution: its buildings and physical plant have no value or significance except in so far as they enshrine the spirit of the college. Our new chemistry laboratory expresses a conviction that our young men should not go out into the world without a chance to prepare themselves by a knowledgE> of modern science to do something in this time to make life in this planet somewhat less precarious, somewhat more comfortable. The new dining hall emphasizes the sacrament of the Common Meal. In spite of its limitations, the college library represents the assemblage of the treasures of the past, made available to youth. What about our dormitories? Among our cultural group the normal place 路for the development of the adolescent is in the home. Perhaps we may say that the development of residential colleges in America has been due to this experience and conviction. We have come to the conclusion, not always consciously planned, that it is good for our young men before they go out into the world to get something of the spirit of the Group, to live for a few months in the social environment of their contemporaries, with a minimum of adult control. This is far from being the . same thing as life in a boarding school, where supervision is often developed so far as to create an atmosphere largely artificial. A college dormitory is another matter, involving often self-government in one form or another, with something of laboratory study in the problems of democracy. This plan of the new dormitory unit we are now considering exemplifies a departure from the traditional. For many years the pattern of a college dormitory has been fixed: units of three rooms,
consisting of a common study with individual bedrooms. Whatever may be said about this arrangement as a preparation for monogamous marriage, the fact remains that the invention of the radio has made the ancient institution of the college room-mate a potential and often an intolerable nuisance. As a result we have been getting at Trinity an increasing demand for single rooms, and accordingly have designed this unit largely for individuals. There is no expectation that the residents will become hermits, for the plans include an attractive common room. In some of the small colleges of our group, the administration has encouraged the building of commodious and often over-elaborate fraternity houses which take care of the rooming problem, except for the freshmen and a few lonely neutrals who live in the college dormitories. This does not seem a desirable situation. With us most of the fraternities have some living quarters, but the dormitories are and should be the controlling element in the life of the college. With the building of this new unit, we should push on to complete our physical plant, upheld by the conviction that life in a college dormitory is valuable, almost indispensable training in the ancient art of making and keeping friends. The dignity of the individual should be protected by some opportunity for privacy, and at the same time respect for the common welfare should always frown upon an abuse of privilege. Above all, the dormitories should be a powerful factor in knitting together our young men in such wise that their corporate life will be a true expression of the spirit of the college.
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