Student Housing

West Campus

Chandler/Lancaster, Hollister, Alsop, and Shakespeare/Troy

West Campus is located in the center of campus which many students are attracted to. Four buildings make up West Campus, Chandler/Lancaster, Hollister A/B, Alsop A/B, and Shakespeare/Troy. All of the West Campus buildings have two air conditioned study lounges, laundry facilities, and handicap access. West Campus houses approximately 500 residents and has twelve Resident Assistant staff members, one on each floor. West Campus residents also have the opportunity to participate in a great deal of programming. Resident Assistants and the West Campus Area Council are very active in providing social events and community building activities. West is known around campus for it's annual "West Fest", which is an organized outdoor event with games, a DJ, food, and lots of fun! The Hall Director office, the West Campus Community Room, and a conference room are located on the Hollister lobby floor. Hollister and Shakespeare/Troy are coed on the floors, meaning that one-half of each floor is women and the other half is men. Alsop has two women's floors and one men's floor. Chandler/Lancaster has two men's floors and one women's floor. Hollister houses the EcoHouse Learning Community. For more information on EcoHouse please visit http://lc.uconn.edu/communities/ecohouse/. All of the buildings in West are large double rooms (11' x 14'); there are no designated single rooms. There are approximately 35-40 residents per floor and each floor has two large bathrooms. Each room comes with a student desk and chair, small bureau, and a bunkable bed (1 piece of each furniture per each student). The mattress size for the beds are 80" x 36". The beds in West are bunks. The beds are not loftable and homemade lofts are not allowed in any residence hall.

Click Here for Virtual Tour!

Fact Sheet

History

West Campus was built in 1955.

Alsop A/B was named for Joseph Wright Alsop, Sr. He was a member of the Connecticut State Legislature, president of the Hartford County Municipal Fire Insurance Company, Commissioner of the State Public Utilities Commission, and UConn Board of Trustees member (1909 - 1942). Mr. Alsop was born in Middletown, Connecticut in 1876, he died in South Carolina in 1953.

Hollister A/B was named after George H. Hollister, a University of Connecticut trustee from 1927-1943. Mr. Hollister was born in Medina, Ohio in 1882 and graduated from Connecticut Agricultural College in 1902 with an A.B. in Agriculture. In 1909, he joined the local park system as a forester in Keney Park, where he was made assistant superintendent of state parks in 1921 and superintendent in 1926. Mr. Hollister was crucial in the development of Batterson Park, municipal golf courses, and recreation centers throughout Hartford. He was former president of American Institute of Park Executives and was made an honorary life member of New England Park Association in 1951. He helped reactivate the latter group in 1916. Mr. Hollister died in West Hartford in 1971.

Shakespeare was named after William Shakespeare. Although not a Connecticut resident, Shakespeare's works touched the UConn Campus enough to inspire the forming of a Shakespeare Society, which renamed this residence hall (Formerly "Hook A" or the Theta Sigma Chi house) after the bard.

Troy House, formerly known as "Hook B", was the name decided upon by the residents of Troy House and the Board of Trustees. For the record, the city of Troy was, at its height in 1300 B.C., one of the most powerful cities of the eastern Mediterranean. Troy house at UConn was a big legend itself, with an "Animal House" reputation. Assorted Troy residents engaged in the Great Pumpkin Hunt Mission of 1966, in which teams competed in a pumpkin stealing contest. In 1980 some Troy residents got into trouble with police when the tree at their Christmas party suspiciously resembled a recently missing rare conifer on campus. The residents who acquired it claimed they had bought it.

It is not known who Chandler and Lancaster are named for, even by alumni who resided in the houses in the 1960s. Originally, both halls were known as Spencer A and B. Spencer hall was named for Samuel R. Spencer or "Uncle Sam" to Suffield residents. Mr. Spencer was a trustee (1933-1949) and chairman of the board (1943-1949) of the University of Connecticut. He was a state representative in 1915 and 1917. He served as a state senator in 1927 and as lieutenant governor under Wilbur Cross from 1931-1932. He was also state treasurer in 1929 and 1930. Mr. Spencer was on the Liquor Control Commission when Prohibition was repealed in 1933. As state treasurer under Governor Trumbull, he oversaw relief measures for Connecticut tobacco farmers whose crops were devastated by hail. In the private sector, he founded Spencer Brothers Hardware, Lumber and Coal firm in 1900 in Suffield. A staunch proponent of conservation, he placed about 1,000 trees, mostly hard maples, along the highways of Suffield. The 300 year old oak he gave to the town is known as the "Spencer Oak". Samuel Spencer was born on November 4, 1871 and died on Friday September 29, 1961.