[102] in UA Discuss
Re: Fwd: Proposal to allow FSILG housing of second semester
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brian Neltner)
Sat Jan 2 14:02:13 2010
From: Brian Neltner <neltnerb@MIT.EDU>
To: Tim Stumbaugh <stum@mit.edu>
Cc: UA Discuss <ua-discuss@mit.edu>
In-Reply-To: <4B3F92F9.7080701@mit.edu>
Date: Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:58:17 -0500
Hi Tim!
Sorry, the UA was on my list to email soon, I'm just trying to write
personalized messages to each group since that's just how I am =)
On Sat, 2010-01-02 at 11:39 -0700, Tim Stumbaugh wrote:
> This has been floating around the dorm lists, so I thought I'd bring it up here.
>
> My thoughts on this are that while it is a good idea, it doesn't really address the issue of
> crowding since freshmen will still live on campus their first semester. MIT will probably not go
> back to freshmen being allowed to live in FSILGs first semester for a /very/ long time, if ever, but
> I think that this is a good thing, since it's important for freshmen to have a community outside of
> an FSILG.
The proposal was written by consensus of a group of alumni and students,
so take this as only a personal note about what this means to me.
I totally agree with your statement. I do think that the first semester
living in a dorm is beneficial for a lot of reasons. Mostly, I think it
guarantees (as much as is possible) that they will end up in a social
community that is appropriate for them, whereas if they moved
immediately into a FSILG they, as you say, won't have any contacts on
campus (as I didn't until I started hanging out at EC and SH more during
my senior year, and subsequently once I was a TA for 3.091), and it will
be more difficult for them to escape a bad community if they've already
given up their on-campus housing.
> This ... sort of happens already, just unofficially (and with an empty/underoccupied room as the
> result).
I had heard this from a few people. It's very unfortunate. The result
being that the FSILG is using resources to take care of the freshman
with no compensation, while the dorm hall gets an empty bed and a ghost.
I think this is obviously sub-optimal for everyone. If this is, in fact,
fairly common, it should be an even greater sign that it is something
which is important to the freshmen.
> UA types (including Senate members), what are your thoughts on this?
>
> Brian, have you talked with the FSILG office/other members of RLA, the AILG or IFC/Panhel/LGC about
> this?
I have not talked formally with those groups, although I am in the
process of sending them emails. The initiative is a grassroots campaign
from the alumni and students, but we definitely hope to get the
endorsement of the AILG, IFC, Panhel, LGC, UA, GSC, and DormComm.
> [For full disclosure, Brian was a member of TEP while an undergraduate]
And I should mention that this was written with feedback from a
collective of alumni representing FSILGs beyond TEP, including Chi Phi,
Zeta Psi, Theta Xi, ZBT, Beta, and dorm residents (i.e. everyone I
knew). I'm just the one who was chosen to be the point man on setting up
the petition, formalizing the letter, and publicizing it.
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Proposal to allow FSILG housing of second semester freshmen.
> Date: Sat, 02 Jan 2010 12:14:50 -0500
> From: Brian Neltner <neltnerb@MIT.EDU>
> To: bc-talk@mit.edu
>
> Dear Burton Conner Residents,
>
> A group of alumni has put together a proposal to ask MIT to allow
> second-semester freshmen to live in FSILGs (Fraternities, Sororities,
> and Independent Living Groups). I know that to many of you this will
> feel irrelevant to your lives, but it *does* affect dorm residents.
>
> The full proposal can be found at:
> http://fsilg-housing.org/
>
> MIT is considering increasing enrollment, which will unquestionably
> result in overcrowding (even more than is currently in place). By
> allowing freshmen to live in FSILGs, MIT can increase enrollment without
> increasing crowding -- and overcrowding negatively effects the quality
> of life of anyone in a dorm.
>
> From a more philosophical point of view, it's not very reasonable for
> freshmen -- adults -- to be prevented from living with their support
> community. I'm sure many of you understand how difficult the first
> semester on grades is, and understand how awful it would be/is to be
> going through that without being able to live with your emotional and
> social support community, whether that community is a particular suite,
> a dorm hall, a fraternity, sorority, an ILG, or even an apartment.
>
> With that in mind, I hope that you will consider signing this proposal,
> as well as forwarding it to your alumni list, if you have one, or invite
> your friends on facebook to join our advocacy group "Allow FSILGs to
> house second-semester freshmen."
>
> The proposal can be found at:
> http://fsilg-housing.org/
>
> Thank you for your time, and I hope everyone has a wonderful IAP!
> Brian Neltner
> Class of 2005 -- Course 3 and 8
> Current PhD -- Course 3
>
>
