Residence staff welcome first-year students to the punny Farm
The Stanford autumn quarter tradition of adopting witty and memorable themes for residence halls was on full display Thursday when first-year students moved into their new homes.
Each year, resident assistants and other staff – upperclass students whose job is to help build community in the university’s dorms and houses – strive to select a theme loosely based on the residence name that will inspire, lend itself to decorative dorm art and fit nicely on an attractive T-shirt.
And if it involves a pun, all the better.
This year, the student staff members payed homage primarily to movies, television series and singers.
Except at Arroyo, located in the Wilbur complex on the west side of campus, where student staff member GITA KRISHNA, who hails from Vermont, convinced her colleagues to adopt Ben & Jarroyo’s as the residence theme. Ben & Jerry’s is a popular ice cream producer based in Vermont and known for cleverly named flavors, including Gimme S’more! and Blondie Ambition.
As a result, a large poster of a cow greeted first-year students and their families at the Arroyo residence door. And the artwork throughout the residence halls?
“So much ice cream,” Krishna said.
At the nearby Stern complex, Donner student staff renamed their residence Donner Mifflin in honor of the company featured in the popular television show The Office. At Twain, student staff opted for Power Twaingers.
At Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, the Native American theme house celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, student staff greeted new residents with T-shirts labeled Muwek Monsters, Inc., which harks to a popular Disney movie. Sully, Mike Wazowski and the rest of the cast decorate the Muwekma walls.
On the east side of campus in Lagunita Court, Ujamaa, which is the Black culture theme house, gave out T-shirts labeled “Just Uj It,” alluding to the Nike slogan. Throughout the house, “Uj It” moments in history are highlighted, including a 1968 demonstration by black students at Stanford and Stanford swimmer Simone Manuel’s 2016 Olympic medals.
Across the Lagunita courtyard from Ujamaa, student staff donned Hogwarts garb from the Harry Potter books and movies and gave new residents West Lagwarts T-shirts. Each hall throughout the house has been given a different Hogwarts house name.
Among other residence themes are Robleyoncé (Roble), Earth, Wind and Meier (Meier), Larks and Rec (Larkin), Flomodern Family (Florence Moore), Mission Kimpossible (Kimball), Rolling Sotones (Soto), Thorcliffe and the Delfinity Stones (Norcliffe) and Rincredibles (Rinconada).
