Enrichment Beyond the Classroom

When Stephen Lockey '11 arrived on campus, he had the usual expectations of the student-housing experience. He thought the dorms would be a place to stay but the real action of college would take place elsewhere.

He was surprised to discover the number of opportunities presented by Franklin & Marshall's College House system. One such opportunity led him to get involved in something he never envisioned as part of his undergraduate experience-student government.

"Instead of only one student government with limited opportunities, there are opportunities for leadership in each House-sub-governments," Lockey says. The College House system allowed him to imagine stepping into a leadership role.

The House system gives students ways to enrich themselves beyond the classroom.

"It's a well-rounded education," he says of Franklin & Marshall's approach. "It gives students ways to enrich themselves beyond academics. Franklin & Marshall does a superb job of preparing students for the future. The House system amplifies this."

The College House system is intended to "foster the life of the mind," says Brooks House Don Jack F. Heller, associate professor of psychology.

The dons are there to facilitate that journey.

Heller and other dons schedule speakers, put together reading groups and study groups and arrange academic field trips to museums and historical sites.

But these scheduled events are only part of the power of the College Houses.

The House system creates opportunities that lead students to examine their own world view.

When nationally known speaker and Time Magazine columnist Joe Klein visited campus, he spoke before hundreds of students in a lecture hall. Later, at a House-sponsored dinner, students met Klein and asked him questions they couldn't have posed in a formal setting.

"Intellectual development comes when you have those moments that lead you to examine how you think," Heller says."We try to create events that aren't entirely passive listening, events that lead students to think about their own world view."

Intellectual discussions are important, but Heller has been impressed with the creativity and energy students put into designing social programs, as well.

Last year, there were more than 70 House events, he says, ranging from formal dances to pizza parties to a film festival. "Students don't say ‘there's nothing to do around here.'"