Original Email Announcing the Site

Hey friends,

You probably know we got a new chancellor last year. You might not know that she’s really interested in understanding how we view student life and its associated issues. I know plenty of you have feelings to share so we’d love to collect a portfolio of student and cruft writings on whatever you feel like writing about. Some of the questions we think are important are below, but don’t let that limit you – it’s better to have a strong piece about something that really matters to you than to try to cover all bases.

  • Why is our residence system special?
  • Why is it valuable?
  • What are the underlying principles that make it what it is? How do the specific aspects (e.g. REX, rush, cpw, halls, student projects, etc.) contribute?
  • How has your residence affected your life? (e.g. academics, life plans, well-being, growth, creativity/innovation/expression, etc.)
  • What are the problems and threats that you see right now?

We’ve made a website (here!) and mailing list (opinions@mit.edu) for submissions. We’d love to have the beginnings of a portfolio by the end of the month when Chancellor Barnhart will be coming to EC for a community dinner. In the long run we’d like to see this develop into a continuing archive, so it’s never too late to submit. The east side seemed like a good place to start but please feel free to pass this on to anyone else who might like to contribute.

Thanks!
Jessica Parker – EC President
Phoebe Whitwell – EC Vice-President
Allan Sadun – EC Resident
Rodrigo Lopez Uricoechea – Senior House President
Adrianna Rodriguez – Senior House Resident
William DeMaio – EC Resident
Danny Ben-David – EC Resident Historian
Sabrina Shemet – EC Rush Chair
Katie Bartel – EC Rush Chair
Sonja Postak – EC Treasurer