I am going to say it: Clamer Hall is not that bad.
If I heard myself say this at the start of the semester, I would’ve thought the new Wismer food was so bad it started messing with my head. Thankfully, this isn’t so. I genuinely appreciate the oddities and charm of the old house off East Main Street. Now, it’s not perfect, but I think the negative reputation it gets is a bit undeserved.
Quick background: I ended up in Clamer Hall because of my oversight. When reviewing choices for Main Street Housing near the end of my Freshman year, I made a list and took pretty much everything into account— except for distance. When it came time to book a room, I rushed to pick one of my choices and ended up in one of the furthest houses from the main campus.
Oops.
To add to it, I chose a room on the third floor, and it was rainy on my move-in day. It wasn’t the ideal start. Others’ reactions when I mentioned I would be living in Clamer went one of two ways: an ‘Oh’ followed by a look of pity or straight-up laughter. At this point, I wanted out before staying a night in the building.
Then I started living there. And it’s not that bad.
The distance from campus is okay. You will need an umbrella for rainy days, but there’s a strange beauty in seeing cars pass and walking by each mundane house. Amid all the hustle and bustle, the walk can provide peace of mind unexplainable to those who don’t do it every day.
The interior of the building shows its age in some places, particularly in the stairwell and wallpaper. You will need an AC unit on the third floor (seriously, it’s a furnace), but overall, it is similar to other Main Street houses.
The real treat about Clamer is the sense of optional privacy. The common room (with a door) is great for watching TV and has enough room for gathering, but there is plenty of opportunity to be alone when you want. This is mainly because of the size of the rooms.
Clamer has unusually large rooms compared to other dorm houses on campus, so one can often find a significantly less noisy place to retreat. This also means Clamer can feel isolated to some, so it is on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, the bathrooms on the second and third floors have locks, and people respect the space.
This comes down to Clamer’s sense of community. There is a solid unspoken rule in Clamer to treat the place and each other with respect. The cleaning staff does not come around as often as in different buildings, and we don’t have any nearby, so everyone tries to make each other’s lives easier. Clamer takes some getting used to, but the dorm has its perks, if you give it a chance.