College houses to be on alert during hurricane

While campus is waiting for Hurricane Sandy to arrive in full force, college house staff are trying to promote safety while finding creative ways to keep their residents entertained.

Following the announcement that Monday and Tuesday classes were canceled, the Department of Residential Services sent out an email Sunday morning asking students to remain indoors and secure their windows to prevent water seepage during the hurricane. It also advised students to keep their phones charged and maintain contact with family and friends.

Sunday afternoon, Residential Services sent a follow-up email letting students know that the rooftop lounges of Harrison, Harnwell and Rodin college houses would be closed beginning 6 p.m. that evening, and would remain closed until further notice.

Frank Pellicone, house dean of Harrison College House, said that while building safety is primarily being handled by Residential Services, the college house residential staff will be focusing on handling emergency situations and hosting additional events for residents.

“Our staff, RAs and GAs have been asked to think about extra programming,” Pellicone said. “We will have 850 students in residence for the next two days without any class, and we have to work on keeping them engaged.”

Pellicone added that the residential advisers and graduate associates are keeping in mind what places will deliver food during the hurricane.

Trish Williams, house dean of Du Bois College House, said in an email that the residential staff at Du Bois had gone around the building to ensure that all windows and doors were properly secured.

“We’re buying snacks and boxed drinks and planning activities to keep residents busy and connected with each other,” she said.

Williams added that the house staff planned to “flip pancakes and watch movies, as long as we can.”

Harnwell College House organized a board game evening for its residents, while some students are hosting a movie evening at Rodin College House Sunday.

Many students in the Quad are planning to take full advantage of the additional events that will be offered.

Wharton freshman Justin Wang said he would be accompanying his friends to a pancake breakfast held Monday morning in Ware College House, organized by House Dean Utsav Schurmans. Wang said he would “most likely” spend the rest of the two days studying.

Engineering freshman Rishi Chatterji said that apart from studying for upcoming midterms, he will spend some time with his roommate playing music.

“I play the saxophone and my roommate plays the piano,” Chatterji said. “We will spend some time just chilling out, playing music.”

College freshman Dan Kurland said he will try to stay in as much as possible and avoid the bad weather.

“Apart from that, I am buying food and hunkering down as if it’s the apocalypse,” Kurland joked.

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