Guest opinion: A real house system

To say that Penn's residence halls are not worthy of the title of "college houses" is an egregious error on the part of The Daily Pennsylvanian's Editorial Board. The Editorial Board claims that Penn "jumped on the bandwagon" when establishing the college houses. However, in comparison to our peer institutions that also have an urban environment and a large student population, Penn leads the way in implementing a residential system that works.

The DP is painting a very tainted picture of how most residents feel about the college houses. According to the system-wide survey conducted of residents living in college houses in 2004, the results show that 44 percent of residents took advantage of a wide array of academic and support services right in their house; 74 percent said that they most enjoyed hanging out with their friends from their house, informally or at study breaks; 84 percent said their RAs and GAs are satisfactory to excellent; 60 percent are comfortable or very comfortable with the integration of classes in the houses; and only 3 percent claimed to be "very dissatisfied."

The structure of faculty masters and other house staff being able to interact with students in a non-academic environment is an opportunity for students to develop a sense of community. The addition to the college house living environment of house deans, senior fellows, faculty fellows, specialized RAs and GAs in residential programs and scholars-in-residence has created a merging of academics and residential life. This cannot be found at our peer institutions, as we have a truly diverse mix of faculty and staff. Many staff members will hold weekly study-break sessions where all students can come into the apartments of staff members, enjoy cookies and coffee and interact with faculty and students alike on topics ranging from monetary policy in Mongolia to a Halo tournament being run by members of the college house.

One of the newest additions to assist residents living in college houses is the reestablishment of a student government body comprised of members from each college house called the Residential Advisory Board, or RAB for short. Each RAB representative was selected based upon their involvement in their college house community and their desire to facilitate the growth and improvement of the college house experience. RAB has been working with College Houses and Academic Services for the past two and a half semesters and is quickly garnering support from both staff and students alike. There are two main goals of RAB: to establish a liaison of communication between residents and administration and to promote inter-house activities that foster social and academic interaction among the residents. RAB holds a seat on the Undergraduate Assembly Steering Committee and has recently held meetings with Dining Services to give students a voice in the improvement of on-campus dining.

The RAB Executive Board and the RAB members put their full support behind Penn's vision of college houses. If students are dissatisfied, or have concerns about, their residential experience, RAB will be there to listen to their comments and continue helping to improve college house life. The Editorial Board may call the on-campus buildings whatever they wish, but the fact remains that there is an undeniable sense of community available within each and every college house. There is always room for growth, and as Penn expands, we can hope that the University continues to support the vision of the college houses.

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