The five upperclass dorms that comprise Currier Quad will house first-years and Mission will house upperclass students beginning in fall 2025. The redesignation, which Senior Associate Dean of Campus Life Doug Schiazza announced in an email to student residential leaders on Dec. 10, will allocate an additional 31 beds to first-years and make 98 more singles available to upperclass students. The College’s Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Theme/Affinity/Program/Special Interest (TAPSI) will relocate from Prospect as a result of the change.
Dean of the College Gretchen Long redesignated the dorms after reviewing three potential changes to housing developed by the First-Year Housing Working Group. The group — composed of four students and seven staff members — provided assessments of the possible changes, all of which were intended to accommodate anticipated growth in first-year class sizes and increase the number of single rooms available to upperclass students.
The total enrollment of the Classes of 2025 and 2026 — the two largest classes in the College’s history — exceeded the combined capacity of Mission, Sage Hall, and Williams Hall, where first-year students have lived since 2006. As a result, the Office of Campus Life (OCL) set aside buildings historically designated for upperclass students as overflow housing for first-years. OCL also reserved buildings for the Classes of 2027 and 2028 but ultimately returned both to upperclass students, as neither class required additional housing.
In addition to Currier Quad, Sage Hall and Williams Hall will continue to house first-years. In total, 632 beds will be available for first-years and JAs, exceeding the group’s target of 628 and the current first-year housing capacity of 601 beds, according to Associate Director for Housing Heather McCarthy. Additionally, five double rooms in East College and Fayerweather Hall will be converted to common rooms.
In its report, the working group listed advantages and drawbacks of the three potential housing changes, considering factors including campus geography and availability of common rooms and spaces.
The group noted that housing first-years in Currier and Frosh Quad will situate the entire class next to a quad and a dining hall.
The group also added that Currier, Fitch, and Prospect have common spaces that first-year entries could utilize and that Currier Ballroom would provide space for first-year programming not available in Frosh Quad or Mission. The working group also mentioned that the change could shift dining patterns at Driscoll, though the group was uncertain whether those shifts would be beneficial to students.
The report identified several drawbacks to the plan as well, noting that the redesignation of Currier, Fitch, and Prospect would eliminate several coveted housing options for upperclass students.
Additionally, the report noted that change would necessitate the relocation of the AAPI TAPSI community. AAPI TAPSI has been housed in Prospect since the group was established in the 2023–24 academic year.
“We are disappointed that this decision was made in spite of the work that AAPI students have put into cultivating a space on Williams’ campus, especially without direct consultation from us,” Erika Jing ’27, Zayneb Moin ’25, Cadence Li ’26, and Chris Xue ’28 — the current and future Community Coordinators for the TAPSI — wrote in a joint statement to the Record. “We are tired of the College’s lack of consideration for the transparent wishes of its marginalized students. If our community is uprooted, we will be moving forward with new burdens and repercussions.”
Schiazza acknowledged that members of the AAPI TAPSI were disappointed with the decision and said that he had reached out to them on Dec. 10 to meet with them.
“It’s true that the decision on this necessary housing change was made without direct consultation with AAPI,” he wrote. “However, AAPI is currently only in its second academic year in Prospect, and I’m confident that we’ll be able to work together to find a new location that will support their program similarly to (and perhaps even better than) how Prospect has since the fall of 2023.”
The working group proposed two other possible changes to housing. One suggested that, in addition to Frosh Quad and Mission, Thompson Hall house first-years, and the other proposed that Thompson house first-years for one year before redesignating Currier Quad as first-year housing. The group noted that these options would preserve more consistency in the options available to upperclass students but would not increase the number of singles for them and might isolate first-years in Thompson.
While initial responses to the approved housing changes have been “generally positive,” according to Schiazza, he said it is too soon to tell how it will play out when they are implemented next year. “As with any change, especially of this magnitude, there will be challenges that we’ll anticipate and likely some that will surprise us, and that’s OK,” he said.
Editor’s note: Haley Zimmerman, an executive editor at the Record and a member of the First-Year Housing Working Group, was not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
