Ask the Admin: Susie Brubaker-Cole and Sarah Church on ResX

Feb. 23, 2021, 9:50 p.m.

The Daily sat down with Vice Provost for Student Affairs Susie Brubaker-Cole and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Sarah Church last Friday to ask some of the community’s most pressing questions about ResX. This podcast episode is the first of a series titled “Ask the Admin,” where Daily editors talk with University officials to explore a variety of topics affecting the Stanford community.


Here are the news editors’ top 10 takeaways from their conversation with Brubaker-Cole and Church:

  • Greek life will be a part of the new ResX system. Brubaker-Cole reaffirmed the University’s commitment to 10 Greek houses, and working groups are currently discussing how Greek life will be maintained in the new neighborhoods.
  • Other working groups are evaluating ways to maintain institutional knowledge in co-ops, self-ops and other themed housing after a year of interruption. Brubaker-Cole cited ideas for an advisory group consisting of house alumni to help these houses maintain their culture and traditions. 
  • Students can go “abroad” to different neighborhoods to live in themed housing that suits their areas of interest. The Faculty Senate’s Committee on Residential Learning will gather student input to create new themed housing on top of preexisting options.
  • Co-ops and Greek houses will both be considered University Themed Houses along with a variety of other housing options, including ethnic-themed dorms and academic-themed houses. 
  • The Draw will be eliminated and tiers will be replaced with a class year system — seniors have priority, followed by juniors, sophomores and then frosh.
  • While Brubaker-Cole did not specifically address plans for a disability community center under the new housing assignment system, she did say that the new neighborhood system will bring opportunities to improve the accessibility of living spaces. These possibilities include changes to physical structures and a broader variety of room types in neighborhoods for students who have accessibility needs.
  • ResX calls for the establishment of “Community Councils,” where students will be charged with designing traditions, programming and themed housing for their neighborhoods, Brubaker-Cole said. 
  • There are currently no plans for new construction. However, Brubaker-Cole said there will be opportunities for new construction in the future, which holds “tremendous promise” for building better accessible spaces. 
  • Students in the Class of 2024, many of whom have not yet been to campus, will have the opportunity to live in all-sophomore housing. Even if current frosh have not yet found a group of eight with whom to apply for housing, they can make friends in their class year by living in an all-sophomore dorm, Church said. The Class of 2024 will also have a sophomore welcome in the fall and other sophomore-specific events that replicate typical frosh traditions.
  • Brubaker-Cole also spoke about the importance of common spaces within neighborhoods. Each neighborhood will have a “Community Commons,” an accessible space for students to gather for social events. 

Camryn Pak is a news managing editor. Contact her at cpak 'at' stanforddaily.com.Emma Talley is the Vol. 265 Executive Editor. Previously, she was the Vol. 261 Editor in Chief. She is from Sacramento, California, and has previously worked as a two-time news editor and the newsroom development director. Emma has reported with the San Francisco Chronicle with the metro team covering breaking news and K-12 education. Contact her at etalley 'at' stanforddaily.com.

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