The Colby experience is shaped by the fact that virtually all students live on campus and eat in the three dining halls. This ensures that people of different backgrounds have opportunities to get to know one another well and contributes to the campus ethos that values differences. There are no dorms exclusively for first-year students. All of the residence halls are coed and, except for the senior apartments and the pilot program in the Green House, all of them mix students from all four classes. Because class years are integrated in the residence halls, students are more quickly acclimated and better immersed into the life of the College.
The dorms offer a lot of variety, not only in location and style, but with several housing options available.
- Substance-free halls provide an environment free from alcohol, tobacco, and other substances. More than 15 percent of students choose to live in substance-free halls each year and sign a pledge agreeing to adhere to this philosophy.
- A quiet dorm with extended quiet hours is available for interested students.
- Students with special dietary restrictions are eligible to live in the Co-Op in Mary Low Hall with access to a kitchen for meal preparation.
- Dialogue Housing is offered in a Green House. The program gives students the option of spending two semesters directly linking academic, residential, and social experiences. The Green House is open to upper-class-students who are interested in environmental issues. The dorm serves as a model to initiate and strengthen campus wide greening efforts both through setting an example and through activities for the rest of campus.
