Over the spring and summer, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) refreshed and revived first-year common spaces, adding colorful sofas, fresh flowers, sleek wooden flooring and more.
To create areas with a more comfortable and appealing design, ResLife solicited guidance and inspiration from Student Council, the First Year Class Committee and Community Advisors. According to Dean of Students Brian Janssen, the redesign within McBride, Mather and Gund Residence Halls was largely motivated by a desire to foster connection during the first year of college. “We wanted to create spaces where people could build community by organically meeting one another, studying in groups or as individuals, hanging out and hosting programs,” Janssen wrote in an email to the Collegian. Home Decor
In the Mather and McBride Hall lounges and kitchens, gray plastic chairs and white cabinets were swapped for colorful and modern furniture, including pink kitchen cabinets, cushioned seating and high top dining areas. ResLife also removed stoves and ovens to implement more countertop space, in addition to filing work orders for repairs and cleaning to ensure that the areas were clean and polished ahead of move in.
The frontmost common room in Gund Hall — affectionately nicknamed “the Gunderdome” — also underwent a transformation, complete with warm light fixtures, colorfully patterned rugs and a deep blue coat of paint to cover the room’s plain wooden paneling. Associate Director of Housing and Operations Brooke Baker worked with the Student Council and a representative from Foliot Furniture Inc. to pick furniture that was both functional and aesthetically pleasing. About 75% of the budget was allocated to purchasing new furniture, while the remaining funds were dedicated to decorations. “My main goal was to accentuate the funky, mid-century feel of the space, while also creating a warm and welcoming feeling for students,” Baker wrote in an email to the Collegian.
While rugs and light fixtures in the room add dashes of color and whimsy within the Gunderdome, Baker feels that the room’s decorations will be most elevated by the addition of a specific element: student-made art. On Thursday, The Gund will host a cyanotyping workshop in the Gunderdome, where students will use a printmaking method involving UV light and salts to create artwork for the space. Beyond incorporating the products of the workshop, Baker also hopes to display more art created by Kenyon students — including pieces made in senior art exhibitions. “I’d like to see our historic residence hall lounges echo the beauty we see in the architecture of their exteriors,” she said.
For upperclassmen, the aesthetic and functional changes to first-year residence halls transformed their perceptions of the common rooms they once frequented. One former McBride resident, Lillian Brouwer ’25, was excited to see the changes within the residence hall’s kitchen: “It’s sleek, it’s modern, it’s clean. I didn’t really use the kitchens when I was there because it was kinda meh, but it feels like there’s more open space and seating now.”
To Student Council President Marissa Sun ’25, the changes are part of the ongoing process of giving residential buildings continual care, upkeep and renovations to optimize the student experience. “For next steps, we would like to see more renovation of residence halls, which falls outside Student Council’s control. These spaces are consistently used without breaks and because of that, they are due for a big refresh,” Sun wrote in an email to the Collegian.
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I lived in Mather all four years and loved it, but gods, it's great to see a refurbishment!
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