Mixed student reaction to new plan

Stouffer College House residents are concerned about the future of their unique residence. Friday's announcement of a $300 million, 10-year-plan to transform the face of campus with massive residential and dining renovations surprised few student leaders around campus -- but many labeled the project as the latest example of Penn's shift away from a focus on academics in favor of new buildings and retail spaces. Students in the only building likely to be entirely demolished in favor of a new facility, meanwhile, reacted angrily to news of the plan, and promised to fight to try to save the building all of them call home. The new plan calls for the renovation of most existing residence and dining halls, the construction of several new residences in Hamilton Village -- or Superblock -- and the likely demolition of the Stouffer Triangle, which includes Stouffer College House, the Stouffer dining hall and a strip of retail shops. By the time the residential improvements and new dormitories are completed, the capacity of campus dorms will increase to about 6,170, an addition of 870 beds over the current total. Several student organizations have been discussing the potential for renovations to the University's dining halls and dorms with administrators for years now. The Undergraduate Assembly, the Tangible Change Committee and the Residential Advisory Board have been some of the primary groups representing students' needs in conversations with Penn officials over the past two years of work on the current set of proposals. Aside from the potential improvements to the physical appearance of the University, some student leaders say the Penn community should be careful that academic improvements not be overlooked in coming years. "What goes on behind the pretty walls and the newly formed buildings is really important to us," said College senior Rachael Goldfarb, who heads the Student Committee on Undergraduate Education. "There are some real opportunities for [academic] innovations that I don't think are fully being taken advantage of at this point. It's being overshadowed by the buildings," she added. Goldfarb refused to specify which issues she believes have been overlooked, but other student leaders agreed that Penn may be guilty of putting academics on the back burner in favor of physical and retail improvements. "I just think since I've been here, much of the emphasis has been on the business side rather than the academic side," said College senior Noah Bilenker, formerly the UA's chairperson. "This is first and foremost a place of higher education," Goldfarb added. "It's a University, not a business." Despite the concerns, many student leaders said they were consulted about the plan and updated as to its progress. UA Chairperson Bill Conway said he knew such a plan was in the works and knew it would be discussed during last Friday's series of Trustees' meetings -- but he didn't know the full extent of the University's plans until yesterday. "I was surprised by some of the details, but I wasn't surprised at the overall plan," said the Wharton junior. A year ago, when the University announced plans to outsource management of its facilities to Trammell Crow Co., an outside real-estate management firm, the UA was up in arms about the plan. The student group claimed that it was not adequately consulted about the plan. This time, Conway said, "it wasn't like a Trammell Crow surprise." But Samara Barend, who was vice-chairperson of the UA last year, said she finds the UA's role this time as "reminiscent of past decisions" where the the body was not often approached for advice. "I'm not sure there was enough consultation," the College senior said, though she did concede that "you could look at [the plan] as a response to accumulated suggestions [from student groups]." But Residential Advisory Board Chairperson Emily Pollack said she is confident that "the real consultation is yet to come." "I've been aware of what's been going on," the College junior said. "I don't know any of the specifics because they don't exist yet." RAB will be encouraging students to join University-wide planning committees gathered to discuss the 10-year plan starting this winter. One of the first committees students may soon be invited to join, Pollack said, will be charged with judging architectural submissions for the design of the new dining, housing and retail facilities. Barend, who is also chairperson of the Tangible Change Committee, said she has been pushing for various improvements to Penn's Dining Services since her freshman year. Last year she created the Dining Advisory Board -- a body made up of students and staff members. Although Barend said students had not been adequately consulted, she recalls reading the details of the new plan with "excitement." "It's definitely going to bring more accessibility to students who are on meal plan," she said. Barend added that the creation of new residences in Hamilton Village and renovations to the three existing high rises will drastically improve "one of the last remaining eyesores on campus." Leaving Home... Again But while the student leaders generally expressed their approval of a plan most of them will not be around to see begun, freshmen living in Stouffer College House, scheduled for a likely demolition in their senior year, reacted angrily to the proposal. "A lot of the freshmen here are pretty much upset because by the time we're seniors we won't have affiliation anymore with the house," said College freshman Nathaniel Herr, a Stouffer resident. Stouffer House Dean Anne Mickle added that the building "is a very unique community that I think will be very hard to recreate." Yesterday, the college house's newsgroup was awash with emails expressing anger, confusion and promises to fight the proposed destruction of the building, which may make way for a more "transparent" dining-only building to provide for a better view of the historic Quad. The new building, which may or may not include retail, is preliminarily slated for completion in 2003. "The general reaction now is trying to get hold of the University before they finalize the decision and convince them that Stouffer should stay," said Wharton junior John Baker, who has lived in Stouffer since last year. Other students said the way in which the plan was announced added to their confusion about the possible destruction of the building. "No one heard that much about this until this appeared in the paper," Herr added. "So no one knows the reasons for this decision."

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