Whittemore Hall, the newest addition to the campus landscape, opened its doors to residents last month following 18 months of construction.
Designed to house graduate students at the Tuck School of Business, Whittemore features 60 single rooms, each equipped with a bath, as well as 10 group study rooms, four conference rooms, student storage areas and locker rooms, according to Project Manager Diane Engelhard.
The building is located between the Murdough Center and the River Cluster, and is adjacent to Byrne Hall.
"It basically provides us with what we consider an appropriate level of residential space for graduate students who tend to be on average 28 years old," explained Special Assistant to the Dean Penny Paquette.
Paquette said that Whittemore helps address limitations of other graduate housing at the Tuck school, such as Woodbury Hall, built in 1930, which contains double rooms and shared bathrooms, and which lacks air-conditioning.
Woodbury, whose residents were moved to Whittemore upon its completion, will no longer be used for housing, and according to Paquette will be renovated and converted into needed office space.
"It's wonderful to have the space and privacy of your own room," said Kate Thunissen, a graduate student at Tuck who recently transferred from Woodbury to Whittemore.
"Once you've been out there living in your own apartment, you come to expect a certain standard of living," she said.
Steve Malnight, another student, was equally positive on the change. "The rooms are larger, and the study rooms were badly needed too. Also, with all these common spaces, it feels more like a home."
Both Malnight and Thunissen noted how the layout of the residential portion of Whittemore was particularly conducive to the creation of a sense of community lacking in Woodbury.
In the building, rooms are grouped together in separate wings, or "clusters," each of which centers around a communal area and kitchen.
Though the well-furnished rooms, which feature large built-in desks, spacious closets and cable TV's, are part of the building's appeal, Whittemore has more to offer than luxurious living quarters.
The Cohen Great Hall, which Malnight cited as his "favorite part of the building," dominates the entryway: it is a two-story hall, centered on a large fireplace, containing chairs and couches for both study and relaxation, as well as a pool table on the second floor.
Adjacent study rooms provide ample space for work, for individual or groups. All rooms are equipped with multiple outlets and jacks for easy network access.
The ground floor of the building contains a number of other amenities, including extensive locker rooms and a business resource center.
All rooms display a meticulous attention to detail and a high quality of workmanship -- wood paneling is widespread, and hand-made furniture, much of it crafted in Vermont, adorns most rooms.
According to Paquette, the building also provides a much better entrance to all commuting students who park in the Ledyard lot and formerly walked up the hill to Tuck.
"Before Whittemore, they walked up the loading dock and up stairs," she said. "Now there's a special entrance for them, which has resulted in much better flow."
Although student response to the building has been overwhelmingly positive, Paquette cautioned against any immediate evaluation of the success of the project.
"It's the early days, so I'm not sure we fully know what the impact will be," she said.
"One obvious effect is that we now have Tuck students housed in Buchanan at one end of the school and in Whittemore at the other, and that in some sense is negative."
Paquette also emphasized that the building was intended as a residence, and "like other residences, it is not open to the public."
Whittemore, which was funded by Tuck Capital Fundraising, was dedicated on December 8th and is named for Frederick B. Whittemore '53, and alumnus and supporter of both the College and Tuck.
