Smooth transition back for Baker and Will Rice (2)

By Seth Brown     8/26/10 7:00pm

While Will Rice and Baker College students returned to the south at the beginning of the semester, greeted by new, greener buildings, Lovett College got more space through the acquisition of an adjacent Baker wing.

Will Rice

Will Rice President Nico Feltman said the new building was more complete than McMurtry was when students first began moving in there last year. Feltman, a senior, said although there are a few small things still left to be done, the new rooms are very livable. Feltman said it was hard to determine if any particular floor culture had been established.

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Will Rice sophomore Jorge Aceves, who is living in the new building, said the building has all of the good things of McMurtry, with some improvements.

"It's definitely better - like version 1.2," Aceves said. "The showers don't leak, the floors are polished and the rooms are pretty equivalent inside."

Will Rice did have some problems with leaving things -such as foosball tables - behind at McMurtry, but Feltman said these were hopefully inconveniences that they would never have to deal with again.

Feltman said the new rooms are especially popular with sophomores, who were living as freshmen at McMurtry, though he said there are upperclassmen spread throughout the college.

"We have to educate the sophomores," Feltman said of Will Rice's physical space. "It's like we have two incoming classes, almost."

Feltman said that during O-Week, he and McMurtry President Kelsey Zottnick elevated to myth the story of Will Rice and McMurtry's cohabitation when explaining it to the freshmen. He said although McMurtry and Will Rice have a special relationship, he isn't sure what that will mean for their futures.

Baker

Baker President Megan McSpedon said that while last year at Duncan it felt like they were still living in construction, this year there have only been a few things to deal with. For example, some suite common rooms, many of which currently have two entrances which are easily accessed by all Baker students, are missing doors, Baker sophomore Jarrod Boyd said.

McSpedon said although the freshmen and sophomores at Baker have never been exposed to Baker's space before, they have adapted to it quickly.

"Everybody slipped back in like they've always been here," McSpedon said. "The spirit of Baker sort of automatically reestablished itself."

Baker senior Diana Cahill said it remained to be seen if the old Baker culture would be reestablished with the new building in place, but that she thought it was much more likely that the culture would depend on the floor, as opposed to the entrance. She said that the new building's design matched Baker's culture much better than Duncan's design.

"The architecture just didn't work because Duncan turned out to be very isolating," Cahill said. "There were so many singles, the only time when you would have to see other people was going to the bathroom."

Boyd said that during O-Week, Baker and Duncan had "BaDunc" time, but that only time would tell whether the special relationship between the two would continue.

"There are a lot of new Duncan transfers who may not want to be really closely associated with Baker," Boyd said.

McSpedon said although she's not sure how it will happen, she does want to celebrate the connection Baker and Duncan have.

"I think that it's definitely going to be more than the normal college relationship - we really embrace the concept of sister colleges," McSpedon said.

Lovett

Lovett President Drew Berger said because of the separation of the Baker wing from the rest of Lovett, no freshmen have been put there. He said the building is now technically Lovett's, though the staircases face away from Lovett's quad.

Lovett junior Daphne Wert said the building was forced on Lovett by the administration, and that a number of sophomores live there because they have fewer points and would otherwise have to live off campus.

"I wish the administration would do more to make it part of Lovett," Wert said, adding that Housing and Dining said they would reverse the stairs to face into Lovett's quad, but never did.

Lovett sophomore Duke Njie said he chose to live in the new building because he wanted a change of scenery. Njie said he likes the building so far, and that despite its separation from Lovett, he has stayed connected with the main building.

"It's kind of nice - there are a few people that have my major," Njie said. "I hang out in the commons a lot, so I haven't really felt disconnected much."

Berger said that despite the distance, it is clear to Lovett students that the new building is part of Lovett now.

"I don't think that there's been much trouble understanding that it's ours, [though] we don't have an official term for that building," Berger said. "Those living there now chose to do so.

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