By Jacquie Powers
President Hunter Rawlings will present the Board of Trustees a revised residential housing policy that reflects many of the suggestions and concerns members of the campus community expressed during the past weeks at rallies, press conferences and in conversations with key administrators.
Rawlings will present the revised policy to the trustees at their regular meeting later this month. The full text of the document, "Cornell University Residential Communities Policy Statement," released May 2, is available electronically at http://www.sas.cornell.edu/rescomm/policy.html. It sets forth the general residential housing goal Rawlings is proposing and seven basic principles the administration believes help to achieve that goal.
The statement Rawlings issued May 2 with the revised policy, explaining the discussions of the past weeks, is printed in full on Page 4 of today's Chronicle.
Rawlings' vision for Cornell's residential community is set forth in the revised policy's goal, which has garnered extensive support: "Cornell University will provide supportive residential communities that contribute to an intellectually engaged and socially responsible campus environment."
An earlier version of the proposed residential policy statement, issued by Rawlings in March, also contained, in addition to the goal and basic principles, what were called "program directions." These were specific actions outlined to accomplish the long-term goal for residential housing and fulfill the basic principles.
Many members of the campus community objected to these program directions, which, among many items, called for phasing freshmen out of residence in the university's 10 program houses. Opponents of the proposed policy said this would destroy the program houses, since approximately 50 percent of their residents are freshmen. Program houses include ethnically based houses such as Ujamaa, which focuses on African-American culture, and subject-based houses such as Just About Music. Further, opponents argued that the program houses, particularly ethnic ones, provide essential support for minority students' transition to campus life.
As a result of the recent discussions, the revised policy statement being brought to the trustees for approval contains no specificprograms directions or actions. Rawlings will inform the board that there has been considerable debate within the campus community over the proposal to restrict the option available to freshmen to live in program houses and to a proposed moratorium on new program houses.
In addition, as a result of the discussions with concerned students, faculty and staff, Rawlings indicated that the administration will engage the whole campus community, including representatives of program houses, beginning next fall, in the planning process and design of the implementation plan for the new residential communities policy.
The administration told concerned students on May 3, in a discussion that helped end a hunger strike by some students, that "the planning process will be designed to ensure extensive consultation prior to the development and implementation of program decisions arising from the Residential Communities Policy Statement."
Further, the administration noted that, "In the event that a Program House Council is created which is broadly representative of all existing program houses, the administration will consult that council on matters that arise in this planning process directly affecting the program houses."
The proposed new policy reaffirms Rawlings' vision of creating a residential policy for Cornell that "seeks to provide its undergraduates with a broad exposure to the university and particularly to the intellectual life of the campus ... that will be seen as a model for linking the academic and non-academic lives of students into a cohesive whole."