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• 1 media/womendormsdec1962.jpg 2017-04-03T08:19:07-07:00 Living on Campus (1962-present) 17 How Residence Halls Changed After the Physical Merge image_header 2017-05-13T13:07:16-07:00

  During the physical merge, the Lexington Avenue campus was sold off and women were left to integrate into Centre's existing campus. To accommodate them the college built new dorms, 'New Quad', in 1961-2. These included Acheson-Caldwell, Yerkes, and Cheek-Evans -- all named for members who had exerted a strong influence or pushed for women's education in Danville. The dorms carried over some features from the previous dorms women lived in: entry rooms with plenty of seating, a small desk area for the check-in attendant, and more. The rooms themselves were small rooms that housed two beds, two desks, and two dressers so that a pair of roommates could live in them comfortably. These dorms were women-only, and men were not allowed into the upper floors/residential areas; to this day, these dorms primarily house women, but initiatives have been taken to change this.

  In March of 1969, a “Proposal for a Trial Co-Ed Residence At Centre College” was written in response to student concern. This letter proposed a trial period for one unit of co-ed housing, following successful co-ed residency on other campuses in the US. In February of 1969, Centre faculty approved this proposal and allowed it to “take place only after careful planning.” This co-ed residency would be in Nevin Hall, with floors separated by sex and a common lounge on the ground floor. Nevin Hall allowed the Dean of Men and his wife to supervise, as this is where their apartment was located. Only senior women were allowed to participate in this trial after they obtained parental consent. This co-ed residency would allow for, “more opportunity for association with members of the opposite sex on a non-dating basis,” and would, “make the campus a more unified community”. This shows progression for the integration of women and men’s lives at Centre, while still exhibiting the reluctancy that existed.

  In the late 1970s, after the success of the trial run, Centre housing was integrated. Breckenridge Hall had women living on the 3rd floor and men on 1st and second, with hired student hall monitors to keep men off the 3rd floor   Hillside was originally built for married housing but this plan failed and they were incorporated into more normal living. In 1994 and 1995, new fraternity houses were built on what would be called “Greek Row”, allowing the Old Quad housing to become full co-ed student housing with floors separated by sex. In 2000, with the exception of freshmen dorms, Centre dorms went co-ed by door, with every other room containing female or male roommate pairs. Current Director of Residence Life Ann Young commented that this was done, “For better hall community and gender relations, to make numbers work out better, and to not have empty bed spaces.” In 2008, new Pearl Hall suites allowed men and women to live together, although they, “Didn’t have any takers for several years.” The addition of Brockman dorms also allowed for this integration.

  In 2015, the freshman dorms finally became co-ed for the first time. After renovating Nevin Hall, this once long time freshman men-only dorm became co-ed by floor. Students felt strongly about this switch, concerned mostly with, "... the crisis of having women now using a bathroom only used by men for the last 50 years."