Mystery of Modern Monroe
The newly renovated Monroe Hall opened its doors in 2024 a century after its original construction. From extravagant televisions to expansive lounges, Clare Pacella ’28 takes a look inside and reports back on what’s new.
When I walk down Richmond Road at night, I crane my neck for a glimpse inside the newly-renovated Monroe Hall. Multiple TVs flicker in the windows, upstaging Bryan Hall basement’s remoteless TV. Originally constructed in 1923, Monroe Hall underwent brand-new renovations beginning in June 2023. After a year-long makeover, Monroe became tenantable the day before the class of 2028 arrived. While Lemon Hall is typically known as the nicest freshman dorm on campus, the $22.1 million Monroe renovations put it to shame. Only Monroe Scholars have the opportunity to live in the building; however, they may opt out if they wish to do so.
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All first-year applicants are automatically considered for the James Monroe Scholars Program, and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions selects students who “demonstrate intellectual depth, curiosity, academic passion and care for the community.” If admitted to the program, students are eligible for guaranteed summer research funding, priority registration, and the opportunity to live in the newly redone Monroe Hall.
Outsiders, such as myself, clamor for the opportunity to get an exclusive peek into the lives of the Monroe residents. After touring the building and interviewing students, I have returned to report my findings regarding the Monroe lifestyle.
When you first step through Monroe’s threshold, you are greeted by a bare, circular couch and the distant sound of drills whirring. Upon climbing the staircase to the second floor, you are met with a livelier atmosphere. Each of the first three floors is equipped with a lounge accompanied by a kitchen. When I first stepped into the lounge, I felt like I was about to check into an excessively modern hotel. Available seating consists of a couch, a round table, a few armchairs, and three high chairs placed behind the kitchen island. The building is filled with an assortment of individual study rooms, group study rooms, and conference rooms, all of which are typically occupied.
The bathroom area includes a mirror with two center sinks. Surrounding the sinks are four doors that each lead to individual bathrooms consisting of a shower, a toilet, and a sink. Unlike the stalls in other dorms’ hall baths, privacy is not an issue. The rooms on the first three floors are not unusually large or extravagant. The average double, non-corner room is approximately 195 square feet. The desks are very small, but they do not seem to restrict residents too much. In contrast to the other floors, the fourth-floor dimensions are larger and longer. On this floor, most rooms are approximately 220 square feet. Because the rooms are technically in the attic, the ceilings are slanted, and the windows are limited. The fourth floor is not home to an extravagant lounge, but it does have a kitchen. Although the fourth floor has more space, it has a noticeable lack of natural light compared to the other floors.
Despite all of this, the amenities that initially caught my attention were the 85-inch flat-screen televisions on the first three floors. The TV “encourages the people on the hall to actually do stuff together,” second-floor resident Isaac Diggs ’28 said. Students have bonded through playing video games like JackBox, and they regularly watch movies such as The Princess Bride, How to Train Your Dragon, Mulan, and many others. Additionally, students organized a presidential debate bingo night and gathered around the lounge to watch the drama unfold.
Every time I walked into the common spaces during my tour, there were students either socializing or studying together. “I am surprised when I don’t see people out here,” Diggs said. “That is the exact same as it is at 2 p.m. as it is at 2 a.m.” Because of the constant traffic through the common areas, students have formed a tight-knit community of people similar to them. “I actually do not know how we would have formed relationships if it weren't for the lounges,” second-floor resident Anne Hensley Young ’28 explained. “I think because so many of us hang out here so often to study or work or play, it really has given us a chance to all get to know each other's personalities and work ethic and the classes that we’re in. If we didn't always end up congregating in the middle, it would be so hard to develop any of that.”
Not only do the residents of Monroe bond through watching TV or talking in the lounges, but many Monroe scholars also described a specific community full of shared understanding. Young explains that, as Monroe scholars, “We are all really good at something. We really are. And we show up here, and for the first time in our lives, no one's trying to fight us about it, and we’re actually able to be proud of the work that we do.” According to Young, while the residents of Monroe might not “trauma bond” over the structural issues of the Green and Gold Village, their bonding took place over similar high school experiences.
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Despite popular belief, Monroe is far from perfect. For months, an army of men in neon orange vests swarmed the perimeter of the building. While the building was supposed to be finished before students moved in, the renovations are still in progress. Paint fumes and the sound of power tools constantly fill the building. On more than one occasion, parts of the ceiling fell, and the air-conditioning lacks consistency. In early October, workers began creating a landscape that no longer consisted only of dirt; when they introduced fresh manure to the perimeter of the building as fertilizer, the fumes were far from pleasant. Alongside these grievances, Monroe Hall faces an ant infestation, but reports of cockroaches remain absent.
While being a Monroe scholar is an honor, living in the dorm itself does come at a higher cost. A double in Monroe Hall costs $566.50 more than a standard double room. Whether or not it is worth the extra money for the boundless amenities and friendships associated with Monroe is up to you. “I think having that access to research and being in a space where everyone else is just as academically minded and focused on research also, I think that that is worth it,” Leah Pearlman ’28 said. “I feel like it's hard to put a price value on those friendships that have come out of living in Monroe.”