With the incorporation of undergraduate students into Reinhardt, the previously all-graduate student dorm, the atmosphere in the dormitory has changed.
Though undergraduate students feel that they don’t associate much with the graduate students, their residence in the dorm has changed life for the graduate students in many ways.
“We hardly see them because we’re really far apart and we have separate facilities and laundry and everything,” said sophomore Katrina Delarosa.
Though the graduate and undergraduate students do not seem at odds, one grad student was frustrated that she was housed in an undergraduate wing of Reinhardt, away from her graduate peers.
“I do mind the fact that I’m over in C-wing with a lot of undergrads,” she said, “there’s a level of immaturity there sometimes.”
Most graduate students are not housed in the undergraduate wings, though graduate students who had previously resided in the dorm feel the change from last year. Graduate student Julia Christensen, who is studying music, said that the culture of the dorm feels different than it did last year.
Because of the undergraduate residents, rules are being more strictly enforced than they had been in years past, said one graduate student. Graduate resident advisor Jeff Dyer said that this year’s rules include a ban on smoking within 30 feet of the building and ban on the legal consumption of alcohol in common areas.
Students have always had to smoke outside, but one smoker expressed concern for her safety, pointing out that in order to be the required distance from the building, students sometimes find themselves smoking in the dark, alone at night.
Two ashtrays that used to be in front of one of Reinhardt’s entrances have been removed to discourage smokers who try to stay close to the building, said Eli Drabman, a graduate student studying poetry.
“They took our smoking spot away before they gave us a new one,” said Drabman.
According to Dyer, though, a new spot for smoking safely and comfortably outside is in the works.
“The conference center is buying us a bench,” said Dyer, who said he was glad to find he could be effective in getting accommodations made for his residents.
The strict enforcement of rules this year means that returning graduate students have had to reorient themselves to a more restrictive dorm life.
“No one is happy when more rules are enforced,” said one graduate student.
For undergraduate residents of Reinhardt, the difference in the is less palpable and Dyer said that the resident assistants are working together to govern the dorm.
“There may have been a level of comfort that goes on (in undergraduate-only dorms) that maybe doesn’t now that we’re all together,” Dyer said.
