Rodin will temporarily stop admitting freshmen

The Class of 2013 will have one less option to choose from when requesting a housing assignment for next year.

According to the College Houses and Academic Services Web site and an e-mail sent to the Kite & Key tour-guide listserv, Rodin College House will stop admitting freshmen temporarily.

Harnwell and Harrison College Houses do not intend to change their current policies and will continue to allow freshmen to apply for housing.

The shift in Rodin's demographics was prompted by an increase in the number of sophomores requesting high-rise housing and a decrease in freshman applications. CHAS and Housing Services have decided to limit Rodin to upperclassmen only on a two-year trial basis.

Based on the college-house book, Rodin houses the smallest number of freshmen out of all 11 college houses and was chosen based on the Sophomore Experience programs located within the building.

The transition, however, does not serve to limit the number of freshmen involved in the high rises but rather to augment both the sophomore experience in Rodin and the freshman sense of community in both Harrison and Harnwell.

Current Rodin resident and Engineering sophomore Karen Liao said she agrees with the new policy, noting that Rodin's secluded atmosphere takes away from the more-traditional freshmen experiences.

"Personally, I would not want to live in Rodin as a freshmen," Liao said.

But College sophomore Rivka Fogel, who spent her first two years in Rodin, chose to reapply and stay for a third year. She noted that the advantage of living in Rodin is that "you have your own apartment but it's still a college dorm."

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