The current chem-free housing model is deeply flawed, and we should all be glad that it’s changing next year, when affiliation will be determined by floor instead of by brick.

The College House application process  is nearing its end decisions will be in student mailboxes by April 8—and all the nervous chatter about pending House placements made me think about how the Houses will adapt to the new chem-free system.

I’ve come to believe that Bowdoin is moving in the right direction with the new plan, which  was announced this fall. Dispersing chem-free floors throughout the first-year bricks will lead to an emphasis on what I call “diversity as feeling” at Bowdoin.

I say diversity as feeling because diversity is not just a statistic. Numbers are not an adequate measure for diversity because the concept is as much about feeling as it is about numbers. If I didn’t feel comfortable on campus, or felt like an outsider in an ostensibly racially homogenous community, I promise I wouldn’t care that 32 percent of my class is made up of students of color. Neither would you.

When I asked Leana Amaez, associate dean of multicultural student programs, about the changes to chem-free living, she explained that “the current model has concentrated a lot of our diversity into the chem-free dorms.”

This isn’t a surprise. My floor—the lone chem-free floor in Hyde—is twice as diverse as the other three floors and houses a large percentage of the dorm’s international students.

Why is this so?

“A combination of factors,” said Amaez. “They don’t fall neatly into racial lines. International students especially may be unfamiliar with college drinking culture, and a lot of people just want a quiet place when they go home.”

Some have argued that the concentration of Bowdoin’s multicultural and ethnically diverse students in chem-free housing makes Bowdoin “superficially” diverse but haven’t taken these other factors into account. Diversity at the College is still a work in progress, but it has come far in the past two decades.

In 2007, 46 percent of students who identified as black or non-Hispanic lived in chem-free housing.  Since then, this number has dropped to an average of 21 percent, where it has now stood for several years.

If the College’s diversity is still a work in progress, we need to be working under a system that amplifies our diversity and allows us to engage with it as much as possible, not one that crushes it under stigma and banishes it to one end of the campus.

“These immediate social barriers aren’t what Bowdoin is about, and the new model will help erode them,” said Director of Residential Life Mary Pat McMahon. “The College does not want suites full of people who do not intersect with others. We want people to live together who will ‘cross-pollinate’ interests and perspectives.”

“The strength of the Bowdoin experience is that you have to live with somebody who you don’t know as a first year. That’s a tremendous learning experience with somebody who is of a different background,” Amaez said.

The point of all this is simple: if you don’t get to know a variety of people during your first year at Bowdoin, you might not get the chance to meet them again. 

After freshman year, students choose their own roommates and it can often be difficult to expand beyond an established group of friends. The current first-year housing model doesn’t allow students to truly engage with the dynamic backgrounds of their peers and make the most of freshman year.

 “We’re not exposed to what we could be exposed to—linguistically, culturally and just different perspectives on life in general,” said Alex Thomas, a first year in Hyde Hall.

Arguments that next year’s model will achieve little or that it will harm the dynamic of the College—mostly by making College House residents bond with first years living in a number of bricks rather than just one—are premature. Even though it might have its flaws, the new system is a step in the right direction.

“The thoughtfulness and inclusiveness of the current Bowdoin student population is more than ready for this change,” said McMahon.

I agree, and I am confident that the Class of 2016 will gracefully navigate the new College House affiliation model. Logistical challenges shouldn’t stand in the way of something that could decidedly improve the fabric of our campus. Rather, these challenges will bring our campus closer together, and might improve the College House system in ways we cannot predict.

Of those who disagree, for whatever reason, I ask the following: when you sit down for a meal, look around and make note of who you sit with. When you walk around campus, make note of who you say hello to. And at the end of your day think about this: if your first-year experience had been different, if you actually had meaningful dialogue with plenty of chem-free students, ethically and racially diverse students and international students, would your day have been different?

I promise you the answer is yes—and that your day would have been better because of it.

The current chem-free housing model is deeply flawed, and we should all be glad that it’s changing next year, when affiliation will be determined by floor instead of by brick.
The College House application process is nearing its end—decisions will be in student mailboxes by April 8—and all the nervous chatter about pending House placements made me think about how the Houses will adapt to the new chem-free system.
I’ve come to believe that Bowdoin is moving in the right direction with the new plan, which was announced this fall. Dispersing chem-free floors throughout the first-year bricks will lead to an emphasis on what I call “diversity as feeling” at Bowdoin.
I say diversity as feeling because diversity is not just a statistic. Numbers are not an adequate measure for diversity because the concept is as much about feeling as it is about numbers. If I didn’t feel comfortable on campus, or felt like an outsider in an ostensibly racially homogenous community, I promise I wouldn’t care that 32 percent of my class is made up of students of color. Neither would you.
When I asked Leana Amaez, associate dean of multicultural student programs, about the changes to chem-free living, she explained that “the current model has concentrated a lot of our diversity into the chem-free dorms.”
This isn’t a surprise. My floor—the lone chem-free floor in Hyde—is twice as diverse as the other three floors and houses a large percentage of the dorm’s international students.
Why is this so?
“A combination of factors,” said Amaez. “They don’t fall neatly into racial lines. International students especially may be unfamiliar with college drinking culture, and a lot of people just want a quiet place when they go home.”
Some have argued that the concentration of Bowdoin’s multicultural and ethnically diverse students in chem-free housing makes Bowdoin “superficially” diverse but haven’t taken these other factors into account. Diversity at the College is still a work in progress, but it has come far in the past two decades.
In 2007, 46 percent of students who identified as black or non-Hispanic lived in chem-free housing.  Since then, this number has dropped to an average of 21 percent, where it has now stood for several years.
If the College’s diversity is still a work in progress, we need to be working under a system that amplifies our diversity and allows us to engage with it as much as possible, not one that crushes it under stigma and banishes it to one end of the campus.
“These immediate social barriers aren’t what Bowdoin is about, and the new model will help erode them,” said Director of Residential Life Mary Pat McMahon. “The College does not want suites full of people who do not intersect with others. We want people to live together who will ‘cross-pollinate’ interests and perspectives.”
“The strength of the Bowdoin experience is that you have to live with somebody who you don’t know as a first year. That’s a tremendous learning experience with somebody who is of a different background,” Amaez said.
The point of all this is simple: if you don’t get to know a variety of people during your first year at Bowdoin, you might not get the chance to meet them again. 
After freshman year, students choose their own roommates and it can often be difficult to expand beyond an established group of friends. The current first-year housing model doesn’t allow students to truly engage with the dynamic backgrounds of their peers and make the most of freshman year.
 “We’re not exposed to what we could be exposed to—linguistically, culturally and just different perspectives on life in general,” said Alex Thomas, a first year in Hyde Hall.
Arguments that next year’s model will achieve little or that it will harm the dynamic of the College—mostly by making College House residents bond with first years living in a number of bricks rather than just one—are premature. Even though it might have its flaws, the new system is a step in the right direction.
“The thoughtfulness and inclusiveness of the current Bowdoin student population is more than ready for this change,” said McMahon.
I agree, and I am confident that the Class of 2016 will gracefully navigate the new College House affiliation model. Logistical challenges shouldn’t stand in the way of something that could decidedly improve the fabric of our campus. Rather, these challenges will bring our campus closer together, and might improve the College House system in ways we cannot predict.
Of those who disagree, for whatever reason, I ask the following: when you sit down for a meal, look around and make note of who you sit with. When you walk around campus, make note of who you say hello to. And at the end of your day think about this: if your first-year experience had been different, if you actually had meaningful dialogue with plenty of chem-free students, ethically and racially diverse students and international students, would your day have been different?
I promise you the answer is yes—and that your day would have been better because of it.