Whale-watching trips and weekends in New York. Sushi, tea and cake every Wednesday. Fresh berries and yogurt every Tuesday. When incoming Dartmouth students receive their housing assignments ahead of their first year, they are integrated into one of six House Communities.
Since its founding in 2016 as a part of former College President Phil Hanlon ’77’s Moving Dartmouth Forward initiative, the House Communities Program sorts students into one of six Houses — which are clusters of dorm buildings across campus, each with a designated common space.
Allen House program administrator Rosalyn Goveia said in an interview that each House receives a yearly budget during the summer or at the beginning of the year. The House Councils — which is a group of students who make decisions on house programming — are allocated separate budgets within the House budgets, according to South House Executive Council chief Andrew Serrano ’27.
The South House Council — which leads the largest housing community — receives close to $10,000, according to Serrano. A College spokesperson declined to comment on how much Dartmouth spends on internal budgets.
Part of the House Communities’ mandate is to host a wide range of social events. South House has hosted late-night breakfast, a Six Flags trip, paintball and color fights, according to Serrano.
School House president Hanna Bilgin ’28 said that she and other members of House Councils want students to have “some sort of allegiance to their house community,” but that “participation sometimes decreases” as students “find other communities” on campus.
School House professor Abigail Neely, said that the main role as a House professor is to be a “leader” and “provide the vision” for the community. She added that planning recent events has been difficult due to increased prices from vendors and caterers.
“We can’t meet the demand that we have,” Neely said.
Neely said that she sees a lot of engagement at the House level.
Events are “almost always packed,” she said, sharing that 500 students attended their community dinner in the fall.
Dartmouth Student Government North Park House senator Jude Poirier ’28 said that he would like to see more “cross-House engagement” to increase connection across houses.
“House council events should be broadcasted to the entire campus,” he said
North Park Senator Issa Allison ’29 expressed approval of the house system, noting that “proximity” within house communities allows for a “shared connection.”
“I really do think the house community idea is a good one, because it does bring that new connection to campus that allows students to foster awareness and also just make reflections,” Allison said.
