UMass Residence Areas and Dining Halls: A Symbiotic Relationship
Today’s post is going to get scientific (sort of....not really).
Here we have UMass Dining’s crowning jewel, the newly-renovated, sustainable, and overall exemplary Hampshire Dining Commons:
And here we have the award winning and recently updated Berkshire Dining Commons:
And then there’s Frank:
And here we have Worcester:
Besides the rare UMass student who is an ardent aficionado of either Frank or Worcester, most would agree that Hamp and Berk are the best the school has to offer.
So, what impact does this have on housing?
Many students are already drawn to Southwest because of the perpetrated “Zoomass” stereotype, while many honors students choose to live in the newly-constructed Commonwealth Honors College Residential Community. Both of the living areas are close to Hamp and Berk (for a Southwest resident, the walk is only a few minutes; for a CHCRC resident, it can take up to ten minutes, but such a compromise can be made for brand new dorms.
This gives other living areas a clear disadvantage: while renovating dining halls is most certainly a worthwhile investment, it seems that Southwest has the advantage for acquiring these renovations because of its population, while other areas (i.e. the combination of Northeast, Central, and Orchard Hill, and their two dining halls) are left on the back-burner. This article notes that Worcester will be renovated “eventually,” but when is eventually? In an informational post about commencement, Berk is described as “stunning” and “award-winning,” while Worcester is described in a manner that implies, “Well, this is your only other option.”
There are many great attributes to each of the residential areas, respectively, but the difference in dining options creates a clear divide, making one wonder what would change if any of the dining commons swapped locations.
