Housing selection is just around the corner, and students may start thinking about where they may want to live next year. This year, the options for housing include your typical dorms, the opening of the newly anticipated Kingston Hall and the new implementation of themed housing in Hampton hall.
This past year, we have been given a sample of what is now the Themed Housing Initiative; it will be readily expanding for next year. With themed housing, each floor will have their own distinct themes. The themes will be wellness, substance-free and gaming.
When asked about where the idea for themed housing came about, Associate Director for Housing Operations Matthew Petersons said, “It will allow students to have connections beyond what traditional residence hall floors provide and their housing will reflect that.”
Beyond building themed housing, Assistant Director of Diversity Michael Reaves said, “It’s a good opportunity for students to be intentional about the connections they want to make on campus and the communities they build.”
This is not the first time that themed housing was introduced to campus. Before it’s demolition, the now defunct Chocorua Hall had a very popular wellness floor that is now going to be implemented in Hampton Hall.
When one hears that there are both wellness and substance-free options, they may think that they are extremely similar. However, while there are certain intersections, there are also many differences. According to Matthew Petersons, “The key difference between living substance-free and living holistically is that while substance-free living can be considered a part of living holistically…one does not have to become substance-free with wellness as that has more to do with exercise and eating right.”
Despite the apparent focus on physical health, the wellness floor can also be a space to speak about emotional health. 2018-19 Resident Assistant Benny Alves (’20) says, “Wellness housing, although new, should bring people in the SNHU community who want to improve their physical and emotional health and help people meet up and have discourse about it.”
The gaming floor is a tad more straight-forward. It is not just video games, as it also includes table-top games, foosball and a larger-than-average pool table.
All of the floors primarily focus on the theme of building community.
Overall, the idea of themed housing, while somewhat new, already has many people excited for a fun, new place to call home.
