We are excited to have you and your new classmates join us at Colgate this August. Each Colgate class includes a diverse group of individuals from a broad range of cultural and economic backgrounds. You all bring your own individual hopes, goals, characteristics, and personalities. We understand that this next chapter in your educational journey may be a little unnerving and we are here to support you as you take the first steps toward your arrival at Colgate.
For more than 200 years, Colgate has prioritized its residential experience because we know that learning, understanding, responsibility, and exposure to new ways of thinking come not only from the classroom but also from living and working in community with others. It is through living with others and contributing to your community that you come to understand your own patterns of living, identities, interests, and values, as well as those of your peers. Sometimes we learn most about ourselves through the ways others experience us. This is what makes Colgate's residential education remarkable; it helps to forge the relationships that you will develop over the next four years.
The careful construction of our residential communities no longer requires students to haul stones from Colgate's nearby quarry. Yes, that is how both East and West Halls were built. Today, the intentional construction is about building the communities inside Colgate's residence halls. Soon you will receive a message with instructions to complete your housing profile, which will help us make residence hall assignments. In completing your profile, we encourage you to follow these important principles:
- Be honest with yourself and candid in your responses - we know that this profile works best if you describe who you know yourself to be right now, not who you want to be, or what you think others may want to hear. The more accurate the profile, the more likely we can assign a roommate with whom you share some compatibility (although not identical characteristics, of course.) We appreciate aspirations and a willingness to change, but we want you to answer these questions based on the here and now so that we can assign roommates with accurate responses.
- Complete these questions without assistance from family or friends - your answers will be more helpful to us and be better for you. If you complete the profile with someone else, you may be more likely to be aspirational in your responses or concerned about how others will perceive your preferences. Remember: This is your living environment.
We know that you are likely to change some of your behaviors and perspectives after you've been at Colgate for a few weeks. This is to be expected. We also know you are one of a kind. So, too, are your eventual roommate and floormates. At the same time, all of you will share commonalities in academic and personal interests, ways of living, things that bring you joy, and differences that will help you grow in your own ways of thinking. Similarities and differences naturally bring opportunities for connection as well as conflict. The process of constructing residential communities is predicated on finding some compatibility between roommates while also providing you with a roommate that will offer you a different perspective on life.
From the knowledge we gather in your profile, as well as your specific First-Year Seminar, the offices of administrative advising and residential life assign you to one of four Residential Commons, a specific residence hall within the Commons, and a room (most likely a double, although there are some singles and triples). Your Residential Commons, room, and roommate(s) assignment will also introduce you to your Residential Commons leadership team and administrative dean. These represent the foundational elements of your residential communities; you will help shape these communities through the relationships you cultivate.
We look forward to seeing you on campus soon. If you have any questions about this process, please feel free to contact us at the Office of Residential Life at reslife@colgate.edu or 315-228-7367.