As most of you have probably heard, next year there will be an exciting new housing choice on the RPI campus—a theme house. There have been a few articles in The Poly already discussing the theme house and what it will mean to the campus community. However, we, the initial organizers, felt it was important to write a letter explaining exactly who we are and what we plan to accomplish.

What exactly is a theme house? Simply put, it’s a group of people with common interests living together to more easily accomplish common goals. In the case of our theme house, Ground Zero, these common interests are art, music, and culture in general. Among other things, we plan to host regular open-mic nights, have performances showcasing local bands, and maintain a small library, student art gallery, and sound equipment collection.

Ground Zero will have two types of members—house and associate—with the only difference being that house members will live in the house while associate members will not. The number of house members is limited by the amount of housing provided to us by Residence Life, while the number of associate members we can have is currently unlimited.

The space for both member housing and the performance area has been generously provided by Residence Life, who are generally very excited about Ground Zero and eager to help us provide a positive alternative social option to the RPI community. Our in-house members will all live on campus, on the first floor of Nugent Hall. Current residents of this area have been approached in person by Residence Life and are not at all opposed to being relocated to different rooms within Nugent next year. Most of the residents were graduating seniors or underclassmen planning to move off campus for the Fall 2001 semester, so obtaining the first floor for Ground Zero members was not at all disruptive. This currently gives us room for 18 house members. Expansion to other floors of Nugent is extremely unlikely for the foreseeable future, so other residents of Nugent need not worry.

Residence Life has also given us a portion of Nugent’s basement to use as a lounge/performance area. This space is currently empty, being used only as a dumpster for many old, obsolete workstations. We plan to construct a stage in this space to use for any performances we’ll be hosting. It will also contain a gallery/library area and a small counter for serving coffee and snacks.

As for the events we will be hosting, we have lots of ideas and a number of definite plans. We’ll be holding regular open-mic nights to allow members of the RPI community to express their musical, literary, or artistic abilities. At least once a semester we’ll have a larger show with a well-known local or regional performer. Also, at least once a semester, we’ll take a house trip to a concert/art gallery/performance of common house interest. Overall, our goal is for all of our events to provide a unique alternative social space for the RPI community.

The one thing we are definitely not trying to do is step on the toes of the greek system here on campus. While Ground Zero does offer an alternative to greek life, what we ultimately hope to do is work together with the IFC to improve the overall social atmosphere of the campus. As it stands now, greek life is such a dominant social force on campus that we definitely don’t see ourselves as any kind of threat to the system in general. Greeks will certainly be allowed to join Ground Zero as either house or associate members, and Ground Zero members will be allowed to go greek. Again, our intent is to enhance greek life and the social atmosphere of the campus as a whole by providing additional social options to all students.

Anyone interested in getting more information about Ground Zero is invited to attend our weekly meeting. General questions can be e-mailed to reeceb@rpi.edu. Anyone interested in becoming a member of Ground Zero for the Fall 2001 semester can get an application from Residence Life.

Brian Reece

BMED ’03