After seven months of renovations, the Collis Center for Student Life porch has reopened for pedestrian use. The College will complete the remaining construction — including the patio staircase — and restore tables and chairs to the porch area.
Construction — which began in June 2024 and was initially slated for October 2024 completion — left the front porch and patio inaccessible to students last summer and fall. The renovations aimed to refurbish aging brickwork, increase the building’s accessibility and upgrade maintenance systems, according to Collis Center director Joseph Castelot. The 124-year-old front porch was “essentially falling off,” but just “fixing the porch wasn’t really enough,” Castelot added.
“Students really kind of pushed us to realize it’s not an accessible space, so now two main entrances will be accessible,” Castelot said. “… It feels more like what we value and talk about inside the building about providing student opportunities is now extended to the outside, and I think that’s really important.”
The renovations are a “step towards improving accessibility on campus,” Access Dartmouth — a student group dedicated to disability advocacy — president Samantha Pehl ’27 and vice president Clark Paolini ’25 wrote in a joint email statement to The Dartmouth.
“While these changes are appreciated, they highlight the ongoing need for broader efforts to ensure all campus spaces are truly inclusive and accessible,” Pehl and Paolini wrote. “We urge Dartmouth College to continue prioritizing accessibility in future projects and address the significant work that still needs to be done.”
In past terms, the porch has served as a social hub for many students on campus. Although the Collis Center organized Collis Plaza — an alternative space with tables and chairs in front of the Class of 1953 Commons — during the renovations, many students were disappointed at losing access to the Collis porch. Since the renovated porch has opened for pedestrian use, students have expressed their excitement about returning to the space.
Lily Arrom ’25 said she is “so glad” she can return to the Collis porch to “look at the Green every morning while eating [her] Collis breakfast.” To her, Collis Plaza “… [did] not have the same appeal because it’s just too busy and feels in the way of everything.” However, she said she will miss the lawn and “greenery” that used to exist in the space the new ramp now occupies.
“For now, I’m just glad I’ll have it back for senior spring because I really missed it in the fall,” Arrom said. “I would have loved to have that space to sit outside. It’s beautiful and at the center of everything I do.”
Mina Batra ’28 also expressed more favorable views of Collis porch compared to Collis Plaza, adding that she looks forward to utilizing Collis porch as the tables and chairs are restored.
“I used to see people sitting there [Collis Plaza] when it was warmer, but out on the front [porch] will be a nicer space than right in the crowded middle,” Batra said. “It just felt awkward, and from the front you get a view of the Green.”
According to Castelot, Collis Plaza will remain an alternative hangout space but will evolve to meet student needs. This term, the tables were relocated closer to West Wheelock Street to accommodate foot traffic between the Collis Center and ’53 Commons.
“That area was one of the things that we really had pushed for,” Castelot said. “We’re working to put up some string lights to make it feel a little bit more comfortable. This is not just a road — this is a hangout spot.”
Addison Fortenbery ’28 said the Collis patio was “one of the things that [she] liked” on her campus tour prior to coming to Dartmouth.
“We walked by, and there were a lot of people outside doing work there at the Collis tables, both having fun in the company of each other and being productive,” Fortenbery said.
Fortenbery expressed disappointment after arriving to find the patio under construction.
“It was just kind of inconvenient timing,” Fortenbery said. “Over orientation and fall term, I hung out in others’ dorm rooms or the Green when it was nice out. It would have been nice to have a space with presumably dedicated tables unlike the benches on the Green.”
Sonny Hur ’27 said they reduced their visits to Collis in the fall term because the construction made the building “never really seem like an option.”
“I used to study at Collis all the time but didn’t last term,” Hur said. “It just never came to mind.”
For some students, the porch will be a new space to explore. Fortenbery said it is “exciting” to have “one more space to unlock.”
“I think it’ll be nice to have something that’s close to food, close to classes and exposed to fresh air, especially when the weather gets nicer,” Fortenbery said.
Lauren Pham ’27 — who transferred to Dartmouth this year — said she thinks the new porch makes the Collis Center “more accessible” because it connects the two front entrances on a single plane.
“I think it really opens up the space and connects the building to the rest of the campus,” Pham said. “There was a wall before, and now it feels cohesive. … If you’re hanging out on the Green, you might be more incentivized to go to Collis now because the entrance is right there. It feels natural.”
According to Castelot, the project involved “a lot of years of work from students” through providing feedback and advocating for repairs and increased accessibility.
“Students played a huge role in this, and we certainly would not be at the place we are now without them,” Castelot said. “There are a lot of people that put in a lot of hard work that graduated and hopefully are able to come back and see the finished product.”
Castelot added that he believes the recent Collis porch renovation and addition of the Collis Plaza are part of the Center’s dedication to “increase access to opportunities for students.”
“Collis is a crossroads of different student experiences, whether people use Collis as a hangout place, a location to eat or an events area,” Castelot said. “It’s a place where our students find community and support, sometimes through debating things that they learned in class and other times taking time to throw that stuff away and just relax for a little bit.”
