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National Public Radio’s Here & Now news show featured a portion of an interview with Dean of Students Nancy Thompson on August 21 in a segment titled “There Are 3 Ways to Get a College Roommate. Which Is Best?” Thompson discussed Hamilton’s residential life philosophy that learning to live with others is an important part of the residential experience.

Based on that belief, all students are assigned a roommate(s) their first year at Hamilton. “We want students to get to know new people and to be open to that, and it’s not that they can’t be friends with their previous friends, but we don’t want it to be too easy. It works for us,” she explained during the interview.

The segment pointed to the college’s residential life online FAQ. The answer to “A good friend of mine is also coming to Hamilton. Can we be roommates?” explains, “Sometimes the fastest way to ruin a friendship is to live together; often our friends' individual lifestyles and habits are much different than ours and would not offer an ideal living situation. We do not put people who know each other before coming to Hamilton in the same room because it is our philosophy that all students need to have the consistent and valuable experience of meeting new people. We will, however, consider placing you in the same building or a building nearby. It's a small campus and you will have frequent contact with each other.”

A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with public radio stations across the country, Here & Now, according to its website, “reflects the fluid world of news as it’s happening in the middle of the day, with timely, smart and in-depth news, interviews and conversation. … the show’s daily lineup includes interviews with NPR reporters, editors and bloggers, as well as leading newsmakers, innovators and artists from across the U.S. and around the globe.”

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