Skip to main content Skip to secondary navigation

Taking Care of Ourselves & Each Other

Health & Well-Being

Fire Pit Night, 2024. Credit: Michelle Zheng

The Charge

Main content start

There were three primary areas of consideration for the Neighborhoods Task Force. In keeping with our commitment to ongoing community feedback and iterative improvements, this task force was charged with recommending longer-term changes and enhancements to the neighborhood model that would strike an optimal balance between student choice and community cohesion.  

Scenes from Band run. Credit: Nikolas Liepins/Ethography

The primary areas of consideration were:

  • Housing assignments and neighborhood reassignments (changing neighborhoods)
  • The configuration of buildings within each neighborhood to address geographical proximity and equity across neighborhoods
  • In a situation where many students may be changing neighborhoods, what is needed for neighborhoods to effectively foster a sense of community and to equitably deliver services and enrichment to students

The Primary Deliverable of the Task Force

The task force’s primary deliverable were to be a report detailing two or three scenarios for recommended changes to the neighborhoods for implementation for fall 2024.

The task force was asked to factor into its scenarios the anticipated changes in the undergraduate population size when the larger-than-average class of 2025 graduates, and the transition of EVGR-A to exclusively graduate student housing.  It was also to study the changes enacted to date, including the 2023-2024 pilot changes, and solicit input and ideas from diverse student groups, faculty, staff and alumni.  Scenarios were to be tested for feasibility, and the report was to include a discussion of the pros, cons, and unanswered questions of each scenario. 

Membership

  • Co-chairs: Elaine Treharne and former Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole
  • 6 students representing diverse student groups
  • 4 staff representing Residential Education and Residential & Dining Enterprises
  • 2 resident fellows
  • 3 faculty members

The Task Force was to submit its final report no later than December 8, 2023. 

Group of Ginkgo Students, 2023. Credit: Lishan Carroll