Flashback
55 years ago
UB’s first residence halls opened 55 years ago. Cooke (now Pritchard) and Schoellkopf, dormitories from men, and MacDonald, a dormitory for women, opened in 1953 and housed 149 women and 298 men. Coed dorms were not an option in 1953, and visits by members of the opposite sex were restricted to reception areas on the main floors.
The cost for room and board was $325 per semester, and many of the rules governing dorm life would be considered strange today. All electrical equipment had to be registered. Food could not be kept or prepared in a dorm room, nor was it permissible to use nails, tacks, screws or tape to attach anything to walls or equipment. Rooms had to be in a presentable order—with beds made—by noon; rooms were subject to inspection at any time. All out-of-town students had to live in private homes prior to the opening of these three dorms.
MacDonald Hall was named for Lillias MacDonald, a strong advocate for establishing residence halls. MacDonald joined UB in 1922 as the first dean of women and was responsible for establishing a physical education program at the university. Ground was broken for MacDonald Hall upon her retirement from the deanship in 1952.
—John Edens, University Archives
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