While the Lawn has 54 rooms available to fourth-year students, only 48 are assigned through the competitive review process overseen by the Lawn selection committee. The other six rooms are endowed to a specific organization or group.
These Lawn rooms are reserved for the Honor Committee, the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society, the Trigon Engineering Society, an “outstanding” pre-health student and the senior resident of the Lawn. One additional room is not assigned to one specific student or organization, but is selected by its own application, known as the Gus Blagden Memorial Room, or Good Guy room.
The endowed rooms vary in the means by which they select their resident, with some having an internal selection process independent of the application to live on the Lawn. And while many students still submit an application to the Lawn selection committee, students wishing to live in endowed Lawn rooms are not required to do so.
This process can vary significantly for each endowed Lawn room, including for Room 7 West, which is reserved for the Jefferson Society and is currently occupied by fourth-year College student Zoë Jenkins.
This room is also where the Jefferson Society was originally founded 200 years ago. Its resident is responsible for hosting the Society’s weekly events and, according to Jenkins, support the younger members of the Society.
“It's cool that we have first years who get to feel more comfortable being on the Lawn, they'll come knock on my door and ask me questions and that kind of stuff,” Jenkins said. “You get to be an ambassador of the clubs you’re in.”
According to Jenkins, the president of the Jefferson Society typically does not live in the room, but instead gives it to someone else within the Society to host its different events. She noted that it is similar to holding an executive committee position.
“It's kind of frowned upon for presidents to go for Room 7 [as president], because it’s perceived like you're almost like double dipping,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said that students wishing to live in this room must be a member of the Jefferson Society, submit an application to the Lawn selection committee and must be offered a room by the committee in their own right. She also stated that the Division of Student Affairs then informs the Society which of its members were offered a room on the Lawn, so it can determine who it would like to live in the room. Residents of this room have their housing costs paid for by the Society.
Another endowed room is Room 37 West, reserved for the Honor Committee and typically given to the chair of the Committee. It is currently occupied by Laura Howard, former Committee chair and fourth-year College student.
According to Howard, it is presumed that the chair will choose themselves to occupy the room, but there have been instances in the past where another member of the Honor Committee would live in the room if the chair was not entering their fourth year of their undergraduate education.
Howard said this can be attributed to the fact that decisions for endowed rooms are typically made after results for the regular Lawn rooms are released.
Room 17 West is reserved for the Trigon Engineering Society. It is currently occupied by James Draudt, Society president and fourth-year Engineering student. According to Draudt, the Society was awarded the room for its service to the Engineering School and University community 50 years ago. He also noted that the Society was founded in the room in 1924.
“The Lawn room means so much to Trigon and has been a huge part of our history and all of our traditions,” Draudt said.
The senior resident of the Lawn, currently fourth-year College student Owen Selden, lives in Room 26 East, must have previously served as a resident advisor and is chosen by the Office of the Dean of Students and Housing and Residence Life.
According to HRL, the senior resident oversees residential life on the Lawn, serving as a liaison between students and University administration, addressing maintenance or well-being concerns and helping facilitate opportunities for academic engagement and faculty interaction. In addition to overseeing the overall Lawn community, the senior resident also plays a role in the unique selection process for the Good Guy room.
Room 15 West is known as the Gus Blagden Memorial Room, or Good Guy room and is dedicated to Class of 1963 alumnus Gus Blagden who was known as an all-around good guy when he attended the University.
The selection committee for this room includes Dean of Students Nicole Hall, the current Good Guy room recipient, a representative from the IMPs, president of student athletes, resident staff co-chairs and representatives of the four Greek councils — the Inter-Fraternity Council, Inter-Sorority Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council.
Students wishing to live in the Good Guy room can be nominated by any student in early February and must exemplify “selfless service to the University community, good moral character, genuine care and concern for fellow students, and utmost humility.” Students also do not have to submit an application to the Lawn selection committee to live in this room. The room is currently occupied by fourth-year Engineering student Mehki Rippey.
Room 1 West is reserved for an “outstanding” pre-health student and is currently occupied by fourth-year College student Brendan Gamor. According to Lukas Lehman, Lawn selection committee member and fourth-year Engineering student, students wishing to live in this room must submit an application to the Lawn selection committee and indicate whether they’d also like to be considered for this room on their application. Lehman noted that the resident is then chosen by both Student Affairs and the committee.
Two other rooms are reserved for fraternities which were founded at the University, but are not technically endowed, and thus can be taken away if a fraternity loses its fraternal organization agreement.
One such room is Room 47 West Range, on the other side of the West Lawn rooms, reserved for the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity which was founded in the room in 1868. The room is the only room on the Range that is occupied by an undergraduate student.
Room 46 East used to be reserved for the Kappa Sigma fraternity, founded at the University in 1869. The fraternity lost its Lawn room when its fraternal organization agreement was terminated Sept. 10 by the University after a hazing incident.
Students wishing to live in the 48 non-endowed Lawn rooms must submit an application to the Lawn selection committee. According to Lehman, the selection committee is composed of 64 fourth-year students, comprising 32 members from different leadership positions across the University, including the Student Council President and the Chair of the University Judiciary Committee. The other 32 members are randomly selected fourth-years. The application period typically opens in late November and closes in early January.
Howard reflected on her experience living in the room, emphasizing how incredible it has been on both a personal and historical level.
“I feel like it's been such a privilege. I've had previous Honor chairs come back to the room when they've been here for their reunions,” Howard said. “It's been so interesting to be in a room with this much history and have it tied to an organization that I've spent so much time with.”
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