For many Coleman residents, the current campus construction is hitting too close to home.
Campus construction has affected the entire student body this year. The simultaneous renovations of the Walker Art Building, the former Curtis Pool Building, and Appleton and Hyde Halls are obstructing pathways and creating noise. Many Coleman students' frustrations peaked, however, when they found the majority of their dorm fenced in. The College prepares to begin renovation of Coleman as soon as students move out.
In response to the construction surrounding Coleman Hall, a group of the dorm's residents?first years Shelley Barron, Aspen Gavenus, Jordan Agusti, Sara Griffin, Nick Norton, Liza Shoenfeld, and Dzenana Lukovic?made "Free Coleman" shirts in protest.
"We've dealt with noise, we've dealt with the water main being shut off, or the electricity going off unexpectedly throughout the year, but the fence was the last straw," said first-year Coleman resident Michelle Argueta, who, like other Coleman residents, must now take roundabout routes to other parts of campus due to the blocked-off pathways.
Students gathered to make the shirts on Ivies Saturday, and, according to Barron, several people have requested their own to express solidarity.
Additionally, after the fence was set up around Coleman, Dan Cooperman '09 wrote a formal petition that outlined the inconveniences and dangers resulting from the construction, claiming that the fencing is a fire hazard and highly inconvenient for the residents.
The petition also called for the creation of a passageway through the construction site so as to minimize its adverse effects.
"They obviously can't begin work on the actual building until we move out?or at least that is what we are hoping?so it shouldn't be such a big deal to give us back some of our backyard," Gavenus said.
In spite of the many students' frustrations regarding the inconvenience of the construction site, Director of Capital Projects Don Borkowski said that "the primary concern seems to be the lack of prior notice of the fence going up."
Barron confirmed that the residents of Coleman had hoped to have more of a voice in the process and to have received more notice and accommodation in light of current construction projects.
"They never asked students if this was an acceptable move, and to my knowledge they still haven't responded to our petition," she said.
While students have mostly understood the necessity of the construction projects, the consensus is a wish that construction on Coleman could be postponed until the end of the academic year.
"The extensive fence network gives us a feeling of being fenced in and shut off from the rest of campus," Coleman resident Vincent Karakashian '09 said.
According to Barron, "We will continue to wear the shirts in protest of both the construction and the lack of communication between the school and the residents of Coleman."
Borkowski said that in light of concerns regarding the blocked-off east-west access through campus, members of his department have recently met with contractors and will, after acquiring the necessary materials, create an east-west passageway between Coleman and Hyde Halls so as to alleviate the inconvenience. Borkowski also said that his department will be working with the contractor to minimize noise around Coleman during reading period and finals.
To prevent similar student frustrations in the future, Borkowski met with student representatives and Residential Life to discuss the issue.
"We will make a better attempt to notify building occupants when we begin Phase III at Maine and Winthrop" so as to avoid these conflicts in the future, he said.
Though Dean of Student Affairs Craig Bradley conceded that there is an inconvenience resulting from the construction?both in terms of aesthetics and in terms of noise levels? he is "delighted that we are renovating the dorms."
"The quality of living space is a critical aspect of the student experience, and these newly renovated spaces and the two new dorms are, and will, be superb student living spaces," he said.