New Freshman Dorms
Before the 2021-2022 school year, Mews and Court-Kay-Bauer were known as the best places to live on North Campus. Every freshman dreamed about living in these dorms—that is, until Ganędagǫ and Toni Morrison Hall were built last year. These dorms now replace Mews and Court-Kay-Bauer as the new and improved places to live on campus. The modern architecture is unlike any of the other dorms on North Campus, and these dorms are filled with amenities that the older dorms lack.
Toni Morrison Hall has two floors, is for females only, and is equipped with everything that a student needs. It has a cafe, gym, and a dining hall. In addition to offering multiple places to relax and hangout with friends, Ganędagǫ Hall, sometimes referred to as G-town by the freshman who were unable to pronounce its name (Gah-nen-dah-go), is the place to be when a student is in need of a study space. The first floor, along with each additional floor, contains a multitude of study spaces, which contains many open lounges for people to be around others and do work. If these amenities do not impress you enough, what really sets Ganędagǫ Hall apart from other dorms is the first floor music room, where there are always students practicing playing their instruments.
While the new dorms offer amazing amenities, a problem with these modern buildings that many people fail to mention is how they look on the inside. Many of the other residence halls on campus have walls that are very lively colors. Take Mews Hall for example: the first floor along with each lounge has bright yellow walls with a black and white checkerboard floor. Each of the other floors are painted in a bright or navy blue. Contrastingly, when a person enters Ganędagǫ or Morrison Hall, the first thing they see are the plain, white walls. Students have described these to students living in other dorm buildings as very long, white hallways with doors that do not have handles: boring and dreary. Students have also mentioned that the only light that can be seen walking through the halls are the bright, red EXIT signs.
Despite these plain hallways, however, each lounge is a bright blue color with floor-to-ceiling windows. Additionally, these two new dorm buildings are suite style with single and double rooms that share a bathroom. This layout encourages students to leave their rooms and interact with other students.
Overall, these new dorms are the perfect place for students to come together to do work in groups, study, or simply to hangout with friends. They have ample study spaces, both silent and collaborative, for students to do work and spend time with others. The second floor of Morrison is known to be the perfect place to run into “Hotelies” the night before a prelim. Although it is a freshman-only dorm this year, next year, for the 2022-2023 school year, these dorms will transition to being a part of the new Sophomore Village on North Campus, thus beginning the integration of sophomores onto North Campus. I, along with many other students, am excited to see what another year of these new dorms will bring to Cornell’s campus.
