By ALIYAH BIDWELL, Senior Reporter
Why should students live in the dorms on campus?
Northwestern students say they have many reasons. Some students who stay in the dorms say they like the social atmosphere and decide to stay. Other students, however, say the dorms have their downsides.
AMENT HALL
Ament Hall has small lobbies, which makes hosting events hard to do, said Ament Hall head resident Brandon Wilson.
“Ament’s lobby TVs don’t work at all,” Wilson said.
“Ament Hall has a ping-pong table, and it is a hot commodity,” Wilson added. “Since Ament Hall is mostly men in sports, the dorm doesn’t need to hold events because they all get together and hang out as sports friends. When we do have events, because of the lobby size, we usually team up with Coronado Hall so that we have the space. The dorm has non-sports members as well, and they have chances to hang out with us as a group as well.”
FRYER HALL
Fryer Hall’s disadvantages aren’t anything major, but they might be the deciding factor of living there, students say.
“In Fryer Hall, the lobbies are a decent size,” said Kailani Kealoha, Fryer Hall head resident. “The TV size makes it hard to watch things because the couches are so far away. We are just waiting on the company to come to install the new ones.”
In spite of those issues, Fryer Hall still has events for students.
“With the struggle of COVID-19, we face students attending things less, but we still have girls attend our dorm events,” Kealoha said. “The events bring a bunch of students down to the lobby, and because we are a smaller dorm, we can hold almost everyone from our dorm in our lobby. This year, we got arcade games put into our lobby, and many students love playing them.”
SOUTH HALL
South Hall offers more privacy than Fryer Hall, students say.
“The way the Fryer rooms are set up, if you are gone during the day, you aren’t able to lock your suitemate out of your room because they are set up like a twin-shared bedroom attachment,” said Camille Soderstrom, a resident in South Hall said. “It would be nice if they offered a travel lock so that, during the day, you can lock them out of your room while you are gone. That way, there would be no fear of stuff getting stolen.”
South Hall has a mix of newer and older showers. Some have been replaced, and more are on the way, according to Matt Adair, the university’s housing director.
“The older showers are harder to clean than the newer showers,” said resident Carys Delaplane.
South Hall has two movie rooms: one on the first floor and one on the second. The second floor has an ice machine, and the third floor has a study room.
“South Hall has many advantages, but the big one is the love that is shared here,” said Victoria Caywood, a resident in South Hall.
CORONADO HALL
“Although the lobby is a decent size, it is split up into two rooms, which can be annoying,” said Dawson Maxwell, the Coronado Hall head resident. “Some may say that the dorm is plain. It’s a guy’s dorm.
“We don’t have to make it look good because we use the office for practical things like tools and such. Our RAs mostly just chill in the lobby.”
Coronado Hall has a large lobby even though it is split into two rooms: a game room and a TV room, residents say. They have Superbowl watch parties.
“We just got new TVs in our lobby,” Maxwell said. “We have arcade games, and we have vending machines in each part of our lobby.”
Some parts of Coronado have been renovated.
“Being on the fourth floor may seem crazy to some people, but there is no one above you to make noise, and they are nicer up there,” said Josiah Marshall, a Coronado resident. “They renovated the fourth floor first, I think, because the ones on the fourth floor have … the most stairs.”
COST OF DORM LIFE
Northwestern has some of the cheapest room and board costs of any university in Oklahoma.
Northwestern charges $1,880 a semester for a semi-private room. The university offers different meal plans as well.
With room and board costs added in, students spend $5,200 for the highest meal plan and $4,880 for the lowest meal plan per semester.
“We are planning renovations this summer, and I will know more about what is getting done as the semester progresses,” Adair said. “Many students see the dorms as an advantage because you can meet people easier and make friends faster than you might living off-campus. The dorms have been renovated before, but it was before my time here at Northwestern.”
