McTyeire Hall is now 75 years old and will be torn down this summer due to its old age. Although the dorm hosts predominantly sophomores, juniors and seniors, there are also eight freshmen living as McTyeire’s last generation of students. Overall, the freshmen reactions to their living conditions were mixed.
A number of freshmen living in McTyeire expressed satisfaction with the hall despite its drawbacks, listing the huge rooms and its location as advantages. McTyeire’s rooms are on average smaller than first-year buildings like Raoul Hall and Longstreet-Means Hall, but still bigger than first-year building Dobbs Hall and many of the sophomore buildings.
“My roommate, Candace, and I have a full futon and we could still do cartwheels in there if we wanted,” College freshman and McTyeire resident Dalia Caudle said. “Also, McTyeire is right in the middle of campus, so I can literally wake up 10 minutes late and still get to class on time.”
College freshman Tariq Attarwala, who moved from Alabama Hall to McTyeire Hall within the past few weeks, spoke of similar benefits. “The biggest advantage is the location,” Attarwala said. “Even though McTyeire is not as social as my previous hall, this does not bother me because McTyeire is close to most freshman housing halls and hence meeting friends is not a problem.”
While spacious rooms and a location near the center of campus are advantages that all McTyeire residents benefit from, non-freshmen residents seem to enjoy the experience more.
For instance, College sophomore Stephen Harris lives on the top floor of the building and occasionally plays music from the speakers on his windowsill. Harris and his roommate, College sophomore Philip Beardsley, have received the nickname “McTunes” over the course of the year, as well as permission from the University to play their music.
Harris described an excitement about living in McTyeire that most of the freshmen did not share. “The dorm is amazing. I wish I could live in this room again,” Harris said. “It’s a shame it’s going to be knocked down. When I look back on my college years, I will remember my sophomore year living in McTyeire as one of the best experiences I had in life.”
Unfortunately, many of the McTyeire freshmen interviewed did not share the same positive outlook as the upperclassmen living in McTyeire.
“I certainly feel that I have missed out on some of the first-year experience,” College freshman Sam Balogh said. “I think that because it is not a first-year hall, like it’s been in the past. I don’t have as strong of a connection to the building.”
College freshman Sariyah Benoit expressed an even greater distaste for McTyeire Hall. “I really don’t enjoy living here, especially since most of my other friends live in Raoul Hall and Hamilton Holmes Hall. It’s difficult to be grateful for a temporarily ant-infested and ghost-haunted looking dorm while others don’t have to experience that.”
Caudle indicated a similar disappointment upon finding out she was assigned to live in McTyeire. “I was told by other upperclassmen that it was the worst dorm and heard multiple horror stories,” Caudle explained. She went on to admit, however, that life in McTyeire was not as bad as she had been warned. In terms of living with predominantly upperclassmen, the freshmen also had different experiences.
Some, like Benoit, claimed to barely know any of the upperclassmen. Others, like Caudle, actually spoke of living with upperclassmen as a negative experience.
“The first few weeks were rough because everyone knew we were freshmen and I kind of felt like an outsider,” Caudle said. “I really didn’t feel like I had a freshman experience. Living with upperclassmen is a little awkward, especially when there are hall meetings.”
Caudle also spoke of Songfest with Alabama Hall as an “annoying” task because it was one of the farthest dorms from McTyeire. However, the freshmen also described advantages of living with upperclassmen.
Balogh referred to the living arrangement as “kind of like having an unlimited amount of sophomore advisors [SAs].”
Caudle admitted she also began to like living in McTyeire. “As time went by, I feel like we have a great advantage, because not only have I gotten a lot of advice from the upperclassmen, but I’ve also made a few friends who are older and more experienced here.”
