By Maegan Clearwood
News Editor
A group of Middle Hall residents are renewing the building’s image as an arts specialty-housing dorm. The students hope to attract a larger pool of interested applicants and eventually use the dorm as a forum for art clubs and performances.
Although Middle Hall is meant to be a creative arts dorm, many feel that it is not living up to its reputation.
Sophomore Middle Hall resident Mike Kuethe is among the residents advocating for change.
“A few people have had it in the back of their minds that it hasn’t been living up to specialty housing. But it wasn’t until one night that some people decided to make a concentrated effort to revamp Middle,” Kuethe said.
Currently, the building is not known for its involvement in the arts.
“A lot of people in Middle aren’t interested in the creative arts,” Kuethe said. “There’s been a lot of rhetoric around hall meetings that Middle is known for being full of nerdy, reclusive people. Personally, I think that’s a little exaggerated. But whatever reputation we have, it’s not creative arts, and for good reason.”
In recent years, the dorm has not filled its quota for applications during room-draw. In order to renew interest, Kuethe and some other residents hosted an open forum last week for curious students. The session addressed Middle’s current situation and plans for change.
“The immediate goal is to fill the dorm with people dedicated to creative arts so that we have a larger pool of applicants to choose from,” he said.
According to Middle advisor and drama professor Dale Daigle, the building was converted into an arts-central dorm over 10 years ago by a group of motivated drama students.
“I’m thrilled that the students are interested in reinventing the sense of an arts building,” Daigle said.
Changes are already in the works. According to sophomore Justin Barker, Middle’s resident assistant residents are painting a mural and recently found a forgotten set of bylaws meant to keep track of funding and residential activities.
Also, the drama department allots a $500 budget for Middle Hall, which will be used to promote art events in the future. Eventually, residents hope to use the building as a medium for activities such as poetry readings, art exhibits, and performances.
So far, there have been mixed responses from the student body about this movement for change.
“We haven’t gotten a lot of responses from campus, but the residents in Middle are really motivated,” Barker said.
Current residents are under no pressure to leave Middle to make room for creative arts students, but are encouraged to support the arts movement. Kuethe said that these residents have been “helping with the set-up.”
Specialty-housing applications are due today, March 11, and can be found at http://residentiallife.washcoll.edu/.
March 11, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 18