Examining why exactly Donlon is the ultimate freshman dorm

It is simply common knowledge that Donlon is THE dorm to live in freshmen year. Despite the lack of AC, the communal bathroom, and the permanent scent of vomit, every freshman on campus would sell their first born to live in Donlon. Donlon is the funnest dorm, as it’s six floors with about 90 people on each. Every time you step foot into Donlon you know you are going to have a good time.

It’s the most social freshmen dorm

It is literally built to be social, the rooms are in a circle, so you are guaranteed to see someone every time you leave your room. Also it just so happens that guys live in front of the girl’s bathroom and girls in front of the guys bathroom, so it makes for walks to the shower very entertaining. It is not uncommon to pass a packed common room at 3 am with kids from different dorms sitting bonding over Easy Mac and Popcorn. I have even experienced late night rap battles between my RAs. The floors are so big that I am still constantly learning about new people on my floor.

It’s got The Morgue

Chances are you won’t be able to do work in your room, so on the rare occasion you want to attempt to do work, or if you just want air conditioning, Donlon is the only freshmen dorm with its own library—The Morgue. People from other dorms ditch their study rooms to come to the Morgue. The Morgue is super unintimidated and super comfortable. But if you don’t live in Donlon, be prepared to trek back to your dorm at 2am in the freezing cold, while it’s just an elevator ride back for all Donlon residents.

It’s got great common rooms

No matter which floor you stop on each common room is filled with people socializing, RAs included, but beware of the weird girl or guy on each floor who practically lives in the common room in an effort to befriend the entire floor. Honestly, the common rooms are hit or miss. Sometimes they are crowded with people trying to solve their math homework or it’s the entire floor attempting to make food. But common rooms are nice because they are literally always in use.

It has a piano

There is always interesting background music at your pregame thanks to some annoying kid that decides to practice piano on a Saturday night. Literally at any point in the day that you enter Donlon you will see someone practicing the piano and/or their a cappella performance. A nice reminder that you are not in fact that talented.

There’s a lot of… vomit

Each weekend you are pretty much guaranteed to wake up to the sound of someone throwing up or the lingering smell of it throughout the halls. And yes, people somehow also manage to throw up on the water fountains which is disgusting. But hey, as long as people are having a good time!

There are communal bathrooms

There is one girls bathroom, boys bathroom, and gender neutral bathroom. You will see everyone in your hall practically naked all the time. The communal bathrooms make for great bonding. Bonding over trying to figure out who is leaving their hair all over the shower, leads to dinner, which leads to plans for the night.

There’s no AC

There is no way to put it other than Donlon is HOT. Sometimes by the time I get to my room and the safety of my fan I feel as if I have just returned from a sweaty annex from O-Week. The one thing that keeps us bonded as a dorm is the knowledge that Winter IS Coming, so we might as well be prepared.

At the end of the day, Donlon is the best freshmen dorm, and anyone who says they actually prefer CKB, Mews, the Low/High Rises, Jameson, or the Town Houses is lying. Something about living in Donlon bonds people, no matter how old or which floor they are on, Donlon is a cult community.