Students Adjust to Quincy Swing Housing

A yellow and red Quincy House crest tacked onto the brick exterior of Hampden Hall signifies the building’s new use as one of three swing spaces which will house 179 students while Old Quincy undergoes a complete renovation this academic year.

Students who moved into the buildings this week said that apart from small bedrooms and traffic noise from the streets, they have so far enjoyed their apartment-style housing and their new home’s proximity to classes.

“Who gets to live on Mass. Ave. right outside Harvard Yard without paying a fortune?” Quincy House Committee Co-Chair Scott J. Yim ’13 said.

Yim, who has toured all the swing housing, said the buildings have beautiful common spaces complete with flat screen televisions and pool tables.

“Swing spaces are much better than I expected,” he said. “Harvard and Quincy House have put in a lot of effort to make House life great regardless of where you are physically.”

Joy C. Ming ’15 lives in a quad in Ridgely Hall, another swing space at 65 Mt. Auburn St., with two bedrooms, one common room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Ming said her suite is not as spacious as her room in Grays last year, but it is “really homey because it has an apartment feel.”

Katherine M. Kulik ’15, who also lives in Ridgely Hall with two roommates, said her favorite parts of the room are the bathtub and the kitchen. She said she and her roommates have already made plans to cook a nice dinner for friends visiting from out of town next weekend.

“It will also be nice to have milk and cereal in the kitchen for a quick breakfast when I’m running late in the morning,” she said.

However, Kulik said the apartment is not without flaws. She said that the closets have no doors and the common room is hexagonal, which makes it difficult to arrange furniture.

“But it definitely adds character to the space,” she said.

Though the majority of students living in swing spaces are sophomores, there are some upperclassmen—32 juniors and 15 seniors—who opted to live in these apartment-style buildings, according to Harvard College Facebook.

Kevin O. Orfield ’13 said he decided to live in Hampden Hall, located next to the Grolier Poetry Shop at 8 Plympton St., after learning the rooms would have kitchens.

“It would be convenient to be able to make something when I am hungry at night and the dining hall is closed,” he said.

Though Orfield said sharing a bedroom is not ideal, he still prefers to have his own kitchen and live in a prime location.

But Kaishuo Chen ’14 was placed in swing space during the lottery last spring because all of the rooms in New Quincy had been claimed by the time he chose.

Chen said he had a hard time falling asleep last night because of the noise from the street, but he said he likes the building’s proximity to Widener and Lamont libraries.

Along with Hampden Hall and Ridgely Hall, Fairfax Hall, at 1306 Mass. Ave., will serve as the third swing space building. Next year, these three buildings will house the residents of Leverett’s McKinlock Hall. When Dunster House is renovated during the 2014-15 academic year, the buildings will again be used, in addition to the larger space at 1201 Mass. Ave that currently houses the Inn at Harvard, as swing housing.

This year, Quincy residents are spread out among five buildings, including New Quincy and DeWolfe.

Creating an integrated House community as construction continues on Old Quincy has been a priority for both the College administration and Quincy House leaders.

Yim said Quincy HoCo has planned several events throughout the year to welcome incoming sophomores. For example, he said that HoCo plans to invest more money in existing programs such as “Penguin Pubs” and “Big Penguin, Little Penguin,” which pairs each sophomore with an upperclassman in the House.

“When big penguins are close to little penguins, they become a great penguin family,” Yim said, adding that while coming to the House for events is important, it is equally necessary to make sure they feel welcomed by upperclassmen.

—Staff writer Jane Seo can be reached at janeseo@college.harvard.edu.