I previously wrote about my life in the Jungle, a predominantly freshman dormitory complex at the University of Connecticut. There was a sense of community in our pioneering (back then) coed dorm that lead to a high return rate. My junior year I embarked on a unique living situation with three other guys. Four of us put two sets of bunk beds into Room 317, freeing up Room 315 for our social gatherings. Room 315 was referred to as the “Hot Dog” room, named for the mural painted on the wall by Blake, my roommate from the previous year. Blake had moved out, leaving to Buck, Rob, Keith and I the opportunity to set up our new living arrangements.
The “Hot Dog” room became a commons for the third floor of guys and, to some extent, the fourth floor of gals. We left the door unlocked. Indeed, we would absent-mindedly leave the door wide open, even on a weekend when the four of us were not around. People gathered, listened to music, played games and partied throughout the year. People made arrangements to use the phone in the room (back when there were no cell phones), and honored their agreements for reimbursement without us having to nag anyone. No vandalism or accidental damage occurred and out of our entire possessions only one record album was missing at the end of the year. We suspected someone just forgot they borrowed it. The one drawback was that our bedroom, with four young males living in close quarters, tended to smell like a locker room.
The Hot Dog room in the Jungle was really “life as usual” for me, having come from the village center of a rural town. Only after I became a Hall Director at another college did I experience students who would accidentally damage or intentionally vandalize the property of others and subsequently do or say anything to avoid responsibility. I learned that there were people who would urinate in stairwells and defecate in showers. One telling consequence of this jungle behavior was the lack of cohesiveness among residents and the eagerness everyone had to move out into apartments. Many people like to recount their tales about how they “partied hardy” in places like “The Jungle,” but no one wants to remain in those places for long, unless they end up in a place like Litchfield Hall. That’s my point, people want to have community, even in a college setting.
