This year marks the 10th anniversary of College Houses here at Penn. Prior to 1998, several of the dorms on campus had already been College Houses - Stouffer had been a College House since it was built in the 1970s [picture of old stouffer] - but Penn president Judith Rodin called for the transformation of ALL of Penn’s residence halls to College Houses. On September 19th, 2008 the 11 College Houses celebrated this landmark anniversary on College Green with current Penn President, Amy Gutmann.

The celebration was fantastic. Besides the one thousand cupcakes, a cake that included a sugar rendition of each College Houses’ crest [picture of shield from cake], and many campus groups present, each College House had a table with which they had to prepare something representative of their House. As many of you know, Stouffer’s motto (as appears on our crest) is “Nihil Domo Similus” which translates to “Nothing Comes Closer to Home.” Echoing the true atmosphere of our community and affection for the motto, we used this as the inspiration for our “booth.” And by “booth” we mean outdoor living room. We brought out a couch, arm chair, rug, coffee table, and furnished it all with cookies*. Add great weather and a vibrant bunch of Stoufferites to the scene, the frequently heard sentiment of “this College House is pretty sweet” did not come as a surprise.

I really think we captured the atmosphere of Stouffer College House. And that’s just not my bias: a group of people went around judging each of the booths with one guiding question: “When we look at your table, does it make us want to live in your house?” Judges’ verdict: “Yes!” We won $100 to help fund any Stouffer-related event, an achievement shared in a tie with Harrison College House. There is not an exact plan for the prize money, but residents have already come-up with a number of promising ideas (including an addition to the Hot Tub fund) so it will certainly be well-spent.

All in all it was a solid event. Even after the cake and other giveaways disappeared, many of our residents stayed to play Candyland, Taboo, and to simply enjoy each other’s company in the makeshift living room. How about that for a show of community love? Way to go Stouffer!

*Chips a’Hoy cookies were served and not the Wednesday tradition of Associate Faculty Master Amy Nichols’ cookies, which are too valuable to be a freebie on The Green.