NEWS

Workshop Held to Discuss the Operation of the New Student Dormitories

Update: November 14, 2016

On October 15 (Sat), a workshop was held to discuss the operation of student dormitories among current students who will live in the two new student dormitories (Fir-tree House and Maple House) to be opened in April 2017. The workshop was organized in cooperation with an alumni group established to "Consider the Future of Education Dormitories". The chairman of the group, Mr. Masanori Kobayashi (class of 1989) gave a word of greeting and Mr. Eiichiro Kabashima (class of 1993), a former resident of the Second Men's Dormitory served as the facilitator.

Workshop participants formed groups according to the floor they are going to live on, and discussed specific themes like "Let's make posters to recruit newly enrolled students," "Things you want to do in the new dorm," "Let's make a year-round dorm calendar," "Let's consider the operational organization of the dorm," "Let's consider rules necessary in the dorm," etc.

Upon creating new student recruitment posters, participants shared their images of and hopes for the new dorms: "The message I want to convey to new students is that dorms are a place where friends are always there. Even if things are hard at school, you can return to the dorm at the end of the day to find your friends welcoming you" and "The Chinese character for fir-tree '樅' includes many '人', a character meaning 'person'. Just as its name indicates, I want to make the Fir-tree House a place where many people with different characteristics can relax and be themselves."

When planning the dorm calendar, students proposed many ideas for new events, showing high expectations for their dorm life. For example, one student proposed "When I was in my first year, I had a hard time deciding which classes to take. I think it would be helpful to hold class registration orientations in April and September when new students enroll," and another student suggested "Wouldn't it be nice if we made original hoodies and wore it in the dorm?" Other ideas included freshmen welcome party, Halloween party, rice cake making, bean scattering on Setsubun day, picnics, study sessions before exams, etc.

At the end of the workshop, participants discussed rules to establish for the new dorms. Opinions were actively raised from many floor groups such as "I want to ensure that everyone can lead a happy and comfortable life," "We all need to observe the minimum rules," "Provide for a designated 'Quiet Time'," "Forbid the use of honorifics to promote active communication across seniors and juniors."

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