Dean-Eaton: A Hidden Gem Despite the Hate: Dean-Eaton isn’t THAT bad!

As I sat in single room draw last semester, feverishly mapping out which room had the best view, was close but not too close to the bathroom, and looked the biggest (even though they say that the rooms are not to scale), I was overwhelmed. As a sophomore now, I had no clue then what either dorm was like because I rarely left my comfortable double in Priest. The only things I had heard were was that Sykes was so much better than Dean-Eaton. More specifically, I often heard the nickname for Dean-Eaton, Dirty Dean. I had planned on trying to get a single in Sykes, but as all the other numbers were called before me, I decided to make the executive decision to pick a room in Dean-Eaton. 

Over the summer, I had a stress dream about what my single in Dean-Eaton would look like. I know that is a crazy thing to be worried about, but for some reason, it was really bothering me. All of those times people told me to avoid living in Dean-Eaton crowded my head. But when I got to campus for move in, I was more than happy with my room. It was bigger than most of the first-year singles that I had seen and a tree covered most of my view, which was beautiful. That was enough for me to be happy. Although the first week I suffered with the lack of air conditioning, this is not something Dean-Eaton specific.  

But let’s not dwell on just my own room. Dean-Eaton as a whole is not that bad. It is a very centralized location, especially from the perspective of someone who lived in Priest their first year. Dean-Eaton is practically in the middle of campus, making it perfectly reasonable for you to leave for your 8:50 a.m. class at 8:48 a.m. Although it does not have the benefit of being connected to Dana, it is just a short walk (if you can even call it that) from Dana or the Student Center. 

Additionally, have any of you checked out the courtyard? I didn’t even know Dean-Eaton had a courtyard until I moved in. It is a magical, hidden spot that features one of the classic oversized St. Lawrence University Adirondack chairs, beautiful green grass, and big trees. Compared to the Sykes courtyard, I think that Dean-Eaton comes out on top by a long shot.  

The outside renovation of Dean-Eaton has definitely stirred up some talk around campus, which has been fairly positive. I think that the new stucco will help brighten up the outside and make it a more inviting place. But even without it, my grandmother said it looked like it was straight out of Italy! 

I think the main downside of Dean-Eaton is the noise levels. While I am in a notoriously quiet part of the dorm, when I venture outside at night for my long walk, through 8 different doors to get to the only water fountain (someone please let me know if there is a water fountain on the second floor of Dean-Eaton that I have not found), the noise levels are fairly high. If we had one of those applause noise meters, it would definitely be broken.  

Overall, I think that Dean-Eaton shouldn’t get the bad reputation that it does. So, if any first years are reading this, don’t freak out when you go to room draws and your only option is Dean-Eaton.