News
By Paul Quinlan
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November 29, 2001
Old dorms or new? Every year, this same deceptively simple question is posed to 3,000 rising first years - the response to which, as anyone will tell you, will largely define a student's revered "first-year experience."
But in a move that may eliminate incoming students' ability to state their preference, Student Council is revisiting a fall 2000 proposal put on hold by the University's ad hoc enrollment committee, comprised of five faculty members and no students.
Under the proposal's plan, the housing department would randomly assign entering first-year students to either McCormick Road or Alderman Road residence areas.
The proposal is intended to address what has been "a perceived racial divide between old and new dorms," Dean of Students Penny Rue said.
Traditionally, the McCormick Road residence area houses a much lower percentage of non-white, non-Virginian students than does the Alderman Road residence area.
Officials also expressed concern that old dorms were reputed to be more "social" than the new dorm alternative.
