Brown College at Monroe Hill
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Brown College At Monroe Hill |
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| Established | 1986 |
| Type | Residential college |
| President | Carl Trindle |
| Faculty | 50 |
| Undergraduates | 300 |
| Postgraduates | 4 |
| Location | Charlottesville, Va., USA |
| Campus | 12 Portals located at former President James Monroe's Hill House |
| Nickname | Brownies |
| Affiliations | University of Virginia |
| Website | brown-college.org |
Brown College at Monroe Hill is a residential college at the University of Virginia.
Originally named Monroe Hill College, Brown opened in 1986 as the first modern residential college at the University of Virginia. It was renamed Brown College at Monroe Hill in recognition of the endowment donated by the Brown family in 1994. The college is led by a Principal of the College and a Director of Studies. About fifty faculty fellows from many departments and schools of the university maintain close ties to the college.
The college is arranged by buildings called portals (the portals are as follows: Davis, Smith, Mallet, Long, Venable, Gildersleeve, McGuffey, Harrison, Tucker, Holmes, Rogers, and Peters). Each houses approximately 24 students and are interconnected by tunnels.
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[edit] Membership
Brown College residents can be of any year at the University (as opposed to other residence halls, where restrictions are placed based on the year of the student). Acceptance into Brown College is competitive. The application process for residence in Brown College requires completion of a formal application which includes several out-of-the-ordinary essay questions, such as "Have you ever been to jail? And if not, why?" and "You have been chloroformed. You wake up naked in the basement of the Rotunda with a homemade flamethrower, a short length of rope, a ballpeen hammer, and a document from the Finnish government explaining your situation and providing a short list of assignments. What are they?" Applicants are also generally given a blank page and instructed to use it as they see fit.
Applications are reviewed by both current Brown College residents and administration before a waiting list of students is posted online. Students whose names on the waiting list become highligted red are offered a room in Brown. Once a student has been accepted to or chooses to remain in Brown College, that student is guaranteed residence for the next year.
[edit] Governance
The student leadership of Brown is provided by both the Brown College Governance Board (Govboard) and the Resident Staff (Resstaff), all of whom may use money budgeted for student activities. Intra-portal events are run by Portal Representatives, and have ranged from cultural dinners and movies to more edgy events such as "Eat and Get Out," "Picto-telephone," and "Guess the Behind."
Events meant for the general Brown Community are run by co-chairs. Such co-chairships include:
- Hauntings: In charge of setting up the annual Hauntings at Monroe Hill, a halloween event meant to raise money for charity
- Social: Responsible for the two semi-formal dances, and a huge host of other events for all of Brown
- Academic and Cultural Events: Responsible for bringing the arts and academics to Brown
- First Year Liaisons
- Brown Earth
- Intramurals
The Executive Board of Govboard consists of the Grand Poohbah, the Shama Lama Ding Dong, and the annually renamed Treasurer. The names were chosen on the theory that their powers would be more difficult to abuse given such humorous and unlikely titles. The Grand Poohbah roughly corresponds with the position of President, and is responsible for managing external relations. The Shama Lama Ding Dong, with position similar to a Vice President, runs the weekly Govboard meetings and all internal affairs.
[edit] Activities and history
Each semester, Brown College offers the university community intellectually engaging courses and short courses on a range of diverse topics such as "Arthurian Legend," "The Influence of Schopenhauerian Metaphysics in Wagner," and "History and Science of the Modern Firearm." Most of these short courses are taught by students living in Brown.
In the fall, Brown College puts on Hauntings- a series of haunted tents and rooms constructed within three days and taken down one day after the run completes. Hauntings raises money for charity and provides a tradition for both the students at the University of Virginia and the local families of Charlottesville, Virginia.
The buildings which make up Brown College and Monroe Hill have significant historical value. The Monroe Hill House was James Monroe's residence and family farm, and the Grounds of the University of Virginia are built upon land purchased from the former president. The Hill House is the originial house in which Monroe resided, and the portals on the hill below it can be seen in aerial photographs dating from at least the 1950's.
[edit] Timeline
- 1929: The portals were built as a response to growing students at the University.[1]
- 1935: Portals designated first year only residences[2]
- 1952: McCormack Road Residences built for first years[3]
- 1970s: Dorms transition from male Graduate[4] housing to coed,[5] graduate and upperclass undergraduate[6] housing
- 1986: Monroe Hill College residential college established[7]
- 1994: Renamed Brown College on Monroe Hill and made a permanent residential college[8]
- 1997: First years (30) are allowed to live in Brown College[9]
- 2006: Number of first years increases from 30 to 46[10]
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://www.arch.virginia.edu/housinghistory/Grounds/Grounds.htm
- ^ Ibid
- ^ http://www.arch.virginia.edu/housinghistory/Grounds/McCormickRoad.htm
- ^ http://scripta.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-textwg/cavdaily.pl?str=monroe%20hill&offset=42200929&fileid=19710427
- ^ http://scripta.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-textwg/cavdaily.pl?str=monroe%20hill%20graduate&offset=46660027&fileid=19711117
- ^ http://scripta.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-textwg/cavdaily.pl?str=monroe%20hill&offset=48862383&fileid=19720217
- ^ http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/textonlyarchive/94-02-04/3.txt
- ^ Ibid
- ^ http://www.brown-college.org/wiki/index.php/First_Year_Liaisons
- ^ http://www.brown-college.org/wiki/index.php/46_Chinchilla_Brigade
