Any student walking around campus will undoubtedly encounter a construction project, from the ongoing renewal of the Fayerweather Halls to the newly-redone Brace Commons. Just down the road, on West Wheelock Street, the College has broken ground on Russo Hall — upperclassmen, apartment-style housing set to open in 2026. These projects are a part of Dartmouth’s $500 million commitment to meet the College’s housing demand. The Beilock administration has committed an additional $500 million to the Dartmouth Climate Collaborative to reduce the College’s emissions through improving its physical plant — including the decarbonization and structural renewal of residence halls. The collaborative is outlined as one of the major ambitions under College President Sian Leah Beilock’s administration.
As part of the initiative, Beilock announced a 10-year plan to finish the majority of the undergraduate housing renovations. Beyond Dartmouth’s goal of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2050, the College also plans to add 1,000 new beds to on-campus housing within the next decade. These updates are warranted, perhaps desperately so. It was due time for some of Dartmouth’s century-old buildings to receive a facelift. However, the aggressive project timeline and temporary accommodations made to facilitate these renovations have caused unnecessary disruption to a number of undergraduates.
Due to the renovation of the Fayerweather Halls, approximately 200 freshmen have been displaced from the traditional first-year-exclusive residence halls. South House freshmen, who previously lived in the Fayerweathers, have been dispersed across Topliff, Richardson, Wheeler, New Hampshire and Mid Massachusetts halls. This has effectively negated the community and sense of belonging that Dartmouth claims its First-Year Residential Experience creates.
When the College announced the renovation of the Fayerweather Halls in April 2024, one freshman resident of North Fayerweather Hall said “the big community in the Fayes will no longer be a thing. … There is no real replacement for that.” The Fayerweathers have long been a social hub for freshmen, an experience that South House first-years are missing out on entirely.
The dispersal of freshmen across campus has also displaced sophomores and some upperclassmen to Lebanon at the Summit on Juniper apartments, removing them from campus wholesale. There are countless issues with this system. Importantly, students lose community and connection by being pushed off campus. For students hoping to socialize and enjoy Dartmouth’s tight-knit community, living in a Summit apartment may prove extremely isolating.
Other challenges of living off-campus, such as securing transportation, make Summit an unattractive choice for many undergraduates. Students complain about being forced to wait for the bus, a problem that will only be exacerbated by winter weather, or the logistical difficulties associated with living so far away from campus. Of course, the College has no choice but to displace students when a residence hall is being renovated. However, breaking up an entire cohort of South House freshmen and pushing others off campus is a hasty decision on Dartmouth’s part.
Consider Russo Hall. The College states that these new apartment-style dorms will provide much-needed “swing space” during ongoing renovations. They are correct: had Russo Hall been constructed before other renovations began, the displacement and dispersal of South House students could have been avoided. Upperclassmen could have taken residence in Russo Hall, leaving other South House buildings, such as Topliff, free for a cohesive first-year community. It is entirely possible that a large portion of students displaced to Summit could have remained on campus, and South House freshmen could have retained the important first-year housing community that they deserved.
Instead, the College seems to be scrambling to meet its deadline for renovations, preventing fairer solutions from being achieved.
Other students across campus are also being meaningfully impacted by the renovations. Part of Beilock’s plan is expanding access to gathering spaces and study rooms. In South Massachusetts Hall, a first-floor common area has now been converted into a dorm room, leaving South Mass residents with fewer gathering or study spaces. This is yet another way the administration is making temporary cuts in living standards in order to fulfill its 10-year plan.
Here’s the bottom line: Dartmouth has an equally important commitment to the well-being of its current students as to its future ones. Improving on-campus housing is a necessary endeavor, but it should not be achieved to the detriment of existing students. A more thoughtful consideration of the renovation process and procedure, as well as relaxing the overly ambitious project timeline, would certainly have prevented many of the flaws currently plaguing Dartmouth housing.
Opinion articles represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
