Student Life

Most campus destinations are within a five-minute walk from the Charles E. Shain Library. This compact design concentrates activity in the campus core and helps establish a sense of community. The plan enhances the connections between various parts of the campus, moves parking relegated to the perimeter of campus and transforms Cro Boulevard into a pedestrian-oriented promenade between the Plex and Cummings. The pedestrian experience traveling east-west between the Athletic Center and the Arboretum would also be improved.

College Center at Crozier-Williams

A renovated Cro, adjacent to the library and at the center of the campus, can fully realize its potential as a space that brings faculty, staff and students together for formal, informal and coincidental interactions. The spaces also can activate the community in new and different ways while empowering students to make critical connections between their in- and out-of-classroom lives on campus. An area for potential future exploration includes centralizing dining and catering.

Establishing strong indoor-outdoor connections between Cro and adjacent landscapes reinforces the important role that this building plays in connecting the the campus in all directions while showcasing life at Conn. The Crozier Dell project links Cro and the Plex in a completely new way that eliminates existing physical barriers between these two buildings (e.g. roads, parking, hedges) and activates student life in ways that enable small and large groups of students to gather outside in our arboretum campus.

Shain Oval

The Shain Oval connects the the Charles E. Shain Library to Cro along Cro Promenade. The new space encourages the community to gather outside as part of their dining experience or as they travel through the center of campus.

Larrabee Commons

Larrabee Commons is transformed as a dynamic community space, framed by a renovated College Center at Crozier-Williams, a new Affinity Groups Center in Smith-Burdick and indoor-outdoor connections to student life spaces in Katharine Blunt and Larrabee Houses. The Commons also creates a connection to east campus (athletics and housing) and leverages spectacular views of the Thames River.

Residential Life

Connecticut College is a residential college, with nearly all students living on campus. The plan calls for a new residential building north of Lazrus House with apartment-style housing for upperclass students while encouraging residents to remain involved in on-campus activities. The building, facing Williams Street with an adjacent parking area, supports independent-style living designed for members of the senior class. This proposed building would replace apartments on the east side of campus. The plan also recommends a new, small residence hall to complete the quad of buildings that includes Plant, Branford, and Blackstone.