Some University students view living on the Lawn as the pinnacle of success. A Lawn room implies you've succeeded in this highly competitive environment. Perhaps you've managed to keep up an incredibly high GPA (the group of current fourth years boasted an average GPA of 3.77) while also serving as president of an organization or two. But what is it really like to be a "Lawnie?"
As you may imagine, living on the Lawn means interacting with lots of different people: friends stopping by to say hello, tourists visiting Grounds for the first time, professors living in the Pavilions, groups meeting in the Lawn rooms, maybe even former occupants of your room - the ghost of the Civil War general who died in Room 33, fourth-year Commerce student Tyler Matuella's room allegedly sometimes frequents his old room). The high level of visibility which comes from living on the Lawn leads to many meaningful interactions for some Lawn residents.
"I feel like an ambassador," Matuella said. "People that have never been to the U.S. before come here, and they've never seen anything like [the Lawn] so I get to explain. Sometimes what I say about the University is the only thing they hear."
The Lawn community itself seems to be the most meaningful part of living on the Lawn. Joining a group of Lawnies sitting in rocking chairs on a gorgeous day, listening to the banter and jokes being thrown around, feels like being with a group of people who have been best friends for years. Everyone seems to agree it's a lot like living in first-year dorms, saying the experience exceeds their expectations.
"I was nervous that since I didn't know a lot of people coming in, I'd still hang out with my same friends," fourth-year College student Laura Schapiro said. "I hang out with Lawnies more than my other friends now."
Lawn residents often organize joint activities, such as visiting fourth-year College student and Lawn resident Anne Allen, who works at a bakery downtown, debating gun laws for hours, and taking trips to the AFC hot tub.
This sense of community extends beyond the camaraderie of the students. Even professors and their families hold social events in the Pavilion homes. "They literally host a party every week, and then they always invite us over to share the leftovers," Schapiro said.
Despite this closeness, Lawn residents are far from being cookie-cutter copies of each other.
"The community is much more diverse than I initially expected it to be," fourth-year College student Ben Wallace said. "If I sent out an e-mail to everyone asking, is somebody involved in x, y, or z? I could find somebody involved in all three of them."
The diversity of the community means the Lawn community acts as a microcosm of the University.
"Going to a large university, it's tough to have your finger on the pulse on what's going on everywhere," Wallace said. "When you bring together fifty-five people who are involved in a bunch of different activities, you really get a read for what's going on in the community as a whole."
Fourth-year College student John Nay described a disadvantage to living in the historic rooms - privacy.
"You're a zoo animal." Nay said. "People want to know - how do they react in their environment?"
Another downside, Nay said, is the walk to the bathrooms, located in buildings behind the Pavilions.
Fourth-year Engineering student John Ward said rowdy students can also be a problem, especially given the location of the Lawn.
"The worst part is drunken students walking home, making a lot of noise, knocking on doors, and doing things that intoxicated college students do," Ward said.
The ban on Lawn residents using fireplaces because of cracks in flues and chimneys has drawn attention, leading to a fundraising campaign to raise the $3.7 million needed to repair the 106 chimneys on the Lawn. The fundraising effort kicked off last October with a $100,000 gift from a former Lawn resident. But some Lawn residents have grown to accept the fireplace ban with some residents replacing their fireplaces with fake electric fires.
"It's hard to miss something you never had in the first place," Schapiro said.
The decision to apply for a Lawn room can be a difficult one. Ward said he wanted to live on the Lawn after the first time he toured Grounds. Speaking to a Lawnie that day helped him make his final decision to attend the University, he explained.
Fourth-year Engineering student Robert MacGregor said he had close friends who lived on the Lawn and decided he wanted to follow in their footsteps.
Matuella, however, said he decided to apply just days before the deadline.
Some current Lawn residents didn't even have any intention of applying.
"There can be something kind of superficial about the appearance of the Lawn community," Wallace said. "I saw this as the final resume notch that people were chasing. Now I know that it's a lot more than that. There's a real kind of fiber to this community."
Living on the lawn can become a moving target, which some of us chase for three years, but Wallace warns students not to measure themselves against it.
"Don't aspire to live here," Wallace said. "Go about living your University life like you otherwise would, and if you end up living here, cool."
Fourth-year Engineering student Quinn Weber said "I seriously think it's just about being yourself and doing what you're passionate about"
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