This Ivies Weekend will be the last for 40 College Street as current Bowdoin students know it.
The College recently announced that is has bought the residence, though details of the purchase were not readily available at press time.
Residents of the house voiced their disapproval upon hearing of Bowdoin's decision. "It's pretty sad; there is really no other place at the College like 40," said senior Jay Rilinger. "It's a shame."
On "Rock and Rau," the Bowdoin Cable Network talk show hosted by seniors Patrick Rockefeller and Ali Rau, President Barry Mills cited location as the College's main motivation in purchasing the house.
"If one looks at the next 50 years at Bowdoin [in terms of location], we would want to own that land," he said.
"We don't have a policy of buying houses on Garrison Street, Harpswell Road, or Potter Street. But we do identify areas which, if [one] becomes available and if it makes sense for us to buy it, we will buy it."
Though Mills said on the show that he did not know how much it cost to purchase 40 College Street, he said that when the residence went on the market, the College was contacted. "We decided it made sense to try to buy it," he said.
It is not yet clear how the residence will be used. For the past year, Bowdoin has been working with Skidmore, Owens, and Merrill, an architecture firm, on a long-range campus plan.
Members of the men's rugby team have normally lived at 40 College Street. "It's too bad," senior Nate Smith said. "There are not many off-campus houses like it. More people will probably go to the social houses now."
"Personally, I am horribly against [the purchase]," senior Sam Esterman said. "The administration is not listening to the students enough."
Senior Ryan Chisolm echoed his roommates's thoughts. "It's really going to affect tradition," he said. "We try to do as much as we can for the school. We're a group of guys that throws parties and has a good time together, and next year there won't be as much of that."