Student life
A small college with a full week.
Students live in four residence halls, belong to one of four houses, and run most of what happens on the terrace.
Houses and halls
Every student belongs to a house and lives in a hall, and the two are not the same. The four houses are Vreeland, Tolliver, Brannock, and Kessler. A student is assigned to one by a draw on Bell Night and keeps it for four years. The four residence halls are Ellery, Martelaer, Butter Hill, and North Dock, and each one has members of all four houses on every floor.
A weekday
The day runs on the terrace bell, which rings the hour from seven in the morning until ten at night.
- 6:00
- The dining hall opens for the crews. Brannock is already on the river. Some faculty office hours have begun.
- 7:00
- First bell. Breakfast.
- 7:55
- Sections line up at the classroom door. The door closes on the last stroke of eight.
- 8:00–12:00
- Morning sections, most of them beginning at the slates.
- 12:00
- Lunch. Soup every day during the Pewter.
- 1:00–4:00
- Laboratories, studios, and shops. Pour days at the foundry. Bench check at four on Friday.
- 4:15–5:45
- Practice, crew, and intramurals by house.
- 6:10
- Dinner. On Thursday, house tables, with faculty at the head.
- 7:30–10:00
- Study. The reading room’s green lamps are lit.
- 10:00
- Ten bell. The terrace bell is silent until morning. The Lamp is open until one.
“The bell rings sixteen times a day. You’ll hear about four of them. The other twelve, you’ll be at the slate.”
Societies
The societies are older than most clubs and smaller than the houses. About a quarter of students belong to one.
Terrace Society
A social society with rooms beneath the library steps. It hosts the college’s October receptions.
The Gate
A senior society. New members are announced each spring. Selection is made by the society.
Boat Club
Older than the athletic department. Any student who attends morning practice may row. Coaches select the racing crews.
Quad Club
Organizes intramural sports and the winter formal.
Clubs
Any student may start a club with five members and a faculty adviser. These are among the ones that meet every week:
Steel Bridge Club
It designs a scale steel bridge each winter and puts it up on the terrace in the spring against the clock.
Rocketry Club
It builds and flies high-power rockets from a field site west of the Highlands. Members do their own launch paperwork.
Robotics Club
It builds two machines a year, one for competition and one that does something useful around campus.
Electric Boat Team
It designs, builds, and races a battery-powered boat on the Hudson. The hull is laid up at North Dock.
River Watch
Members sample the river below North Dock every week and keep a record that goes back to 1989.
Radio Club
It runs an amateur station from a room beneath the clock tower and offers a licensing class every fall.
Astronomy Society
It runs the public nights at the Kessler Observatory and trains new students on the telescope.
Outing Club
It organizes hiking, climbing, and snowshoeing in the Highlands. It also lends out equipment from the basement of Martelaer.
Debating Union
It holds weekly debates and coaches students for the winter speaking competition.
Terrace Singers
This is the college’s mixed choir. It sings at Bell Night, Commencement, and a December concert in the library reading room.
Pep Band
The band plays at home football and rugby. Anyone who brings an instrument is welcome.
Founders Players
They stage two plays a year and a festival of short plays written by students.
Chess and Go Club
It meets Wednesday evenings in the dining hall, after dinner.
Bread Club
Members bake on Sunday mornings in the dining hall kitchen. The loaves go to the Thursday tables.
Student government
The Student Assembly represents undergraduates to the college. Each class elects four members, and each house elects one more. The Assembly meets on Tuesday evenings in Founders Library. It divides the student activities fee among the clubs, and its president meets with the Dean of Students each month.
The Conduct Board hears cases under the conduct code, including any case in which a student has signed the line on work that was not their own. Three students and two faculty sit on each hearing. Students are elected to it by the Assembly.
Student media
The Terrace Record
The weekly student newspaper, published since 1889. It prints on Thursdays and posts online the same morning. Its editors also compile the student glossary.
North Dock Radio
A student station that broadcasts online from a studio in North Dock Hall. It covers home games live.
The Survey
The yearbook, named for the first survey of the grounds.
Ripa
A magazine of writing, art, and photography published each spring. Its name comes from the college motto.
The weekend
The library stays open on Friday evenings. When the Mules play at home, students gather on the steps of Founders Library on Saturday. The boat club rows on Sunday morning, and students walk the ridge path or, after ice-out, the Ledge Walk below the terrace. The Ridge Chapel is open on Sunday for anyone who wants a quiet hour. Highland Falls, just below the campus, has a diner and a pharmacy. Most students spend the weekend on the hill.
