Upperclassmen to Live in Wigg Hall

Upperclassmen will move back into the Yard for the first time since the founding of the House system, next fall.

Most of Wigglesworth Hall, the newest of the freshman dormitories, will be temporarily turned over to sophomores and other returning upperclassmen in part of an administrative move to relieve overcrowding, Dean Bundy announced yesterday. These students would maintain their affiliations with the Houses.

About 150 freshmen, including those ordinarily assigned to Wigglesworth, will move into the Prescott St. apartments opposite the Union next fall. Residents of the buildings at number 2 and 10-12 were notified by the University last summer that their leases would be terminated on June 30, 1956. At present, upperclassmen are living at 8 Prescott St.

Bundy met with Masters of the Houses Wednesday evening to complete arrangements for the move. It will not be until this spring that the Masters will know how much space in Wigglesworth will be turned over to upperclassmen, but it is probable that over 100 students affiliated with Houses will be in the Yard.

Both Bundy and Elliott Perkins '23, Master of Lowell House and chairman of the Masters Council, emphasized that the move was one of convenience. The Prescott Street Apartments border on the Union, while Wigglesworth is closer to the Houses than the newly acquired dormitories.

Anticipate New Houses

Perkins further emphasized that the move was only temporary. "This is only a makeshift arrangement in anticipation of the rumored two additional Houses needed to relieve the present overcrowding," he stated.

"We are trying to deal with the present situation in a way that will work best geographically," he continued. "It's just a question of whether it will be better to have freshmen or upperclassmen living in the apartments on Prescott St."

Little Relief Next Year

Students already living in the Houses can expect little relief of the present crowded conditions there next fall. Rooms in Wigglesworth will be added to space in Dudley, Apley Court, and at the Business School to house overflow upperclassmen. At present each House has an approximate excess of 30 affiliated students living outside the House. The addition of Wigglesworth would not be sufficient to increase appreciably the number of House non-residents.

Although Wigglesworth will certainly go back to freshmen as soon as new Houses are constructed, it seems likely that the Prescott St. buildings will become a permanent part of Yardling dormitory facilities.

Upperclassmen have not lived in the Yard since 1931, when the House system went into full operation. Prior to that date, it had been customary for most students in their senior year to move from scattered apartments into the Yard buildings.

Wigglesworth was constructed in 1931 in response to the need for housing the entire freshman class within the Yard.