CCNY Dorm Receives Mediocre Welcome

iieydiColumbia Spectator
Home > News

CCNY Dorm Receives Mediocre Welcome
By Rosane, Oliva
Issue date: 9/27/06 Section: News

The City College of New York has opened its first dorm on campus, where less than half of its residents actually attend CCNY.

Located on the corner of St. Nicholas Terrace and 130th Street, The Towers residence is one of the college's several major development projects, which include new architectural and science facilities. The constructions are intended to change life at the historically commuter-oriented college.

While the long-term impact of The Towers remains to be seen, the dorm has received a lukewarm welcome from CCNY affiliates who say that the high cost of living in the building keeps students from moving in.

CCNY psychology professor William Crain said that the monthly rental cost, which ranges from $775 to $1075, depending on the apartment, may be the driving force keeping CCNY students out of The Towers.

"Our mission is to educate low-income students," he said. "We should be focusing on that, not on building dorms that are too pricey for low-income students."

Crain is one of a group of concerned faculty members who feel that both CCNY and the City University of New York are making decisions, such as focusing on raising the graduation rate and instituting an Honors College, that could turn them into "middle-class institutions."
"Price is probably everything," he said.

According to Bin Love, assistant director of residential life for Capstone Management, the company CCNY hired to oversee The Towers, 45 percent of the dorm's residents attend CCNY, while another 40 percent attend one of the other schools within the City University of New York system.

But CCNY Director of Public Relations Ellis Simon said that this is a result of the continuing students' tendency to stick with their prior living arrangements when a new dorm is opened.

"They [CCNY students] will, over time, become most, if not all, of the students in the residence hall," he said.

And while the dorm was open to all full-time CUNY students this year, beginning in 2007, CCNY students will be given preference.

Simons said that part of the reason that the dorm was built was to attract city students who wanted a residential experience but couldn't afford to attend Columbia University or New York University and, until now, would have opted for a state school.

"Now we can appeal to students ... who are looking for the residential experience at a public college and also be able to offer them that experience in a locale that's just minutes from midtown Manhattan," he said. He added that the college also wanted to offer students an alternative to commuting." A lot of these kids are putting in really long hours," he said.

And if you're studying until past 9 p.m., "you don't want to look forward to that subway ride home to Brooklyn or Queens."

CCNY sophomore and The Towers resident, who requested to be identified by her first name, Theresa said she thinks that the new dorm has not greatly changed life on campus.

"It's still the same," she said. "A lot of The Tower students don't even go to CCNY."

Heather Kerchusky, a Borough of Manhattan Community College sophomore, is one such student. Kerchusky said that she came late to the housing game and that The Towers was her only option for a place of residence. But Kerchusky says that she likes the mix of schools and students that make up the dorm. "There's even more variety," she said.

Diane Teske, a senior studying abroad though the Ringling School of Art and Design, said The Towers felt more like many different New York City students living in one place than did a CCNY dorm. She was happy enough to forgo the typical dorm experience in order to live in The Towers. "I was so scared that I was going to end up with a Laguna Beach roommate," she said.



NB - What this article fails to illustrate is that CUNY and CCNY completely ignored the City Charter mandate for all City of New York Departments and entitites to CONSULT the local Community Board. In fact CB9M found out about the dormitory when District residents began to inquire from CB9M what was CCNY building. When we inquired CCNY sent a delegation to tell CB9M what they had decided to do and were already doing. One does not have to be a Columbia Graduate or even a CCNY graduate to realize that informing CB9M of what ahd been decided and was being done is not the same as CONSULTATION. But then again maybe CCNY and CUNY graduates have a comprehension deficit in their education.

Columbia University at least makes a great pretense of consulting while the City entity required to consult CB9M doesnpt even bother to pretend. How can anyone accuse Columbia of arrogance in the face of the actions of CCNY and CUNY? !!! - JRM 27Sep06