Dan Chambliss, the Eugene M. Tobin Distinguished Professor of Sociology, published a letter to the editor concerning freshmen housing in The New York Times.
Chambliss’ letter was in response to a column titled “The Real Campus Scourge” by Frank Bruni.
“Chris Takacs and I discovered in research for our book 'How College Works' that face-to-face relationships with other students and caring adults are powerful drivers of engaged learning. Without them, students are all too likely to simply give up and quit,” Chambliss wrote.
He said that the best freshmen residence halls are “the ones with shared bathrooms, long, open hallways, centrally located common areas and multistudent rooms, requiring students to meet other students, like it or not.”
“It's for their own good… Too often, young people realize too late what may be in their best interest,” Chambliss wrote.