First of all, I’d like to say that I really appreciate the faculty’s desire for feedback on the Rose Scholar’s Program. It’s refreshing to feel like students’ opinions and wishes about a Cornell program are not only heard, but are a necessary building block for success.

I agreed with most things that were said at the forum, but I identified most strongly with the goal of creating some sort of a unique culture for each dorm on West Campus. This definitely existed freshmen year on North campus. The first question you would ask another freshman would be which dorm they lived in, and each dorm had different stereotypes about it. Unfortunately, most of the stereotypes were about the quality of the buildings, but not all. Now that I wonder why this existed for North campus but not West, I think the answer is that freshmen are more likely to latch onto any semblance of a family. They latch onto any perception of a feeling that they belong somewhere. Whereas sophomores already have a friend group, a “Cornell family”, and are less willing to identify with new places and things.

I’m not sure what the answer to this problem would be, because I know that there’s no way freshmen would be allowed to come directly to West campus, nor is there a way to somehow say (for example) that Clara Dickson is the sister dorm of Rose house. But I don’t think that the problem is unsurmountable. I think the solution has to be tied to a diversification of the dorms on West campus. If there were more discernible differences between the houses, then people would start to filter themselves into the house that aligns most strongly with their sense of identity. How to achieve this diversification is another matter altogether…and any strategy would need mass public and administrative support to succeed. So, theoretically, the first step is gaging support on campus for this idea. Then, maybe we can work to achieve it.