Balch Hall is the only remaining all-female

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

on the North Campus of

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. Technically, Balch Hall consists of four eighty-student halls, hence the more accurate name the Balch Halls, which has fallen out of use. Balch Hall is open only to female freshman and is divided into sections, known as units, each with a Residential Advisor who helps the new students acclimate themselves with the campus. This dorm is unique due to its old fashioned design as each room has a personal sink, or shares a sink with one other room. The dorm also houses the Carol Tatkon Center in which the residents can borrow movies, games, baking pans and other similar objects.

History

In 1920, Cornell founded a committee to research the feasibility of constructing a new women's dormitory to meet the needs of the growing community. In 1922,

Frederick L. Ackerman Frederick L. Ackerman (1878–1950) was an architect and housing reformer in the United States. He supported proactive engagement of the federal government to supply quality housing for the working class. He participated in the federal government's ...

submitted a basic plot for the construction of a dormitory on North Campus and, with approval of the university's Architectural Advisory Board, began seeking donors with the promise that Cornell would pay for up to half of the building's construction. In 1928, the university accepted the $1,650,000 donation of Allen C. Balch 1889 and Janet Balch, a graduate student from 1886 to 1888. When Balch opened in September 1929, it became the third female

residential college A residential college is a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship wi ...

at Cornell, after

Sage College The Sage Colleges were a private educational institution comprising three institutions in New York State: Russell Sage College, a women's college in Troy; Sage College of Albany, a co-educational college in Albany; and the Sage Graduate School ...

and Risley Hall. According to legend, Janet Balch insisted that her husband donate the money for the dormitory after attending an event at Allen's fraternity,

Alpha Delta Phi Alpha Delta Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Delt, ADPhi, A-Delt, or ADP, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi was originally founded as a literary society by Samuel Eells in 1832 at Hamilton College in Cli ...

. The story goes that Mrs. Balch was offended by the behavior of the undergraduate brothers at an Alpha Delta Phi function. She insisted that her husband should not donate further funds to the fraternity and instead build a dormitory dedicated to the welfare of female students. To this day, as the Balches requested, the dormitory has remained an all-female dormitory.

Facilities

On North Campus, Balch stands out for its majestic

English Renaissance The English Renaissance was a Cultural movement, cultural and Art movement, artistic movement in England from the early 16th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginni ...

style. Originally, each of the four halls were decorated differently in "Early American, Georgian, English Jacobean, and modern Gramercy Park". At the end of Spring 2000 semester, the dining hall was closed and has been converted into a student center, cafe, and lecture hall known as the Carol Tatkon Center. The dorm rooms are unique in that each has its own working sink.

References

{{Coord, 42, 27, 12.02, N, 76, 28, 46.87, W, region:US, display=title Cornell University dormitories Residential buildings completed in 1928 1928 establishments in New York (state)