House model fosters community

For months Duke administrators have outlined the goals of the house model in broad strokes. But last week, the administration finally offered some concrete details on just how Duke’s quadrangles will become shiny new houses by Fall 2012.

At a Campus Council meeting Thursday, Donna Lisker, associate dean of undergraduate education, and Joe Gonzalez, associate dean for residence life, laid out a plan for this transformation that includes reshuffling selective living groups based on where they fit, balancing the distribution of affiliated and unaffiliated houses and creating cross-class communities across campus.

This plan stands to neutralize much of the impact location has on attitudes toward the residential experience and to promote community in residential life. But the long-term success of the house model will require a reduction in the physical inequalities in residential life.

The administrators outlined a selective living group placement process that will move some SLGs from their existing sections and relocate them based on “fit” rather than on Residence Group Assessment Committee scores. Reshuffling through this “fit” principal—which places groups based on their size and ability to recruit new members—should help eliminate the value judgments underpinning previous SLG evaluation processes. The decision to keep housing assignments secret until after SLG recruitment is also crucial—next year’s recruitment will be based more on the character of the group and less on its location on campus. The flexibility inherent to the “fit” model will allow the administration to spread selective and non-selective houses in equal proportion on West and Central campuses. This must happen if all campus spaces are to be considered equal. All houses will be communities in their own right, and their locations should point toward the similar aims—cohesion and camaraderie—of selective and non-selective communities rather than draw attention to the differences.

Finally, the transition plan signals a dramatic shift in the vision of West Campus. Rather than striving to house all sophomores on West, the administration will seek to promote cross-class communities, which will result in 25 percent of sophomores living on Central Campus, and will provide incentives for seniors to remain on campus. Getting to live in the newly renovated Central Campus may lessen the sting for sophomores who never get to live on West.

It’s unlikely, however, that many seniors will feel compelled to remain on campus for their fourth year—housing in Durham is too cheap, and the call of independent living too strong. Attempts to create cross-class communities may be better served by prioritizing the reintegration of juniors returning from abroad into their previous houses over seniors’ right of return.

The administration cannot rid some areas of stigma by simply reshuffling students and groups. The goal of de-emphasizing residential location would be served by further decreasing existing on-campus housing inequalities. Although much has been done to improve Central, scant attention has been paid to another perennially disliked campus space, Edens Quadrangle. Making Edens a uniquely attractive living space would help eliminate one of the most glaring facilities inequalities on campus.

Much of the initial and long-term success of the house model rests on how well this transition is executed. Hopefully, the reality of the housing model will reflect its lofty goals.