Skip to content ↓

Students get a sneak peek at Maseeh Hall

Open house offers prospective residents the chance to check out MIT's newest undergraduate dormitory.
A table full of construction helmets and safety goggles awaits a tour group. Because Maseeh Hall is still under construction, participants were required to wear safety gear.
Caption:
A table full of construction helmets and safety goggles awaits a tour group. Because Maseeh Hall is still under construction, participants were required to wear safety gear.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty
The tours started in the McCormick dining hall, where prospective residents got a chance to chat with students in the Phoenix Group, the founding organization charged with developing a model and culture for Maseeh Hall.
Caption:
The tours started in the McCormick dining hall, where prospective residents got a chance to chat with students in the Phoenix Group, the founding organization charged with developing a model and culture for Maseeh Hall.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty
Maseeh Hall's Housemasters were on hand to guide the tour. Suzanne Flynn, an MIT professor of linguistics, and her husband, Jack Caroll, will live in the dorm and serve as mentors, advisers and neighbors to the student residents.
Caption:
Maseeh Hall's Housemasters were on hand to guide the tour. Suzanne Flynn, an MIT professor of linguistics, and her husband, Jack Caroll, will live in the dorm and serve as mentors, advisers and neighbors to the student residents.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty
A tour group pauses outside the main entrance to Maseeh Hall. The tours took students through the lobby, the dining hall, some common areas, and into one of the floors to check out student rooms.
Caption:
A tour group pauses outside the main entrance to Maseeh Hall. The tours took students through the lobby, the dining hall, some common areas, and into one of the floors to check out student rooms.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty
Students inspect the lobby of Maseeh Hall. Maseeh was originally built as a hotel, and the lobby was a passageway for carriages. Its columns still bear grooves from carriage wheels turning against them.
Caption:
Students inspect the lobby of Maseeh Hall. Maseeh was originally built as a hotel, and the lobby was a passageway for carriages. Its columns still bear grooves from carriage wheels turning against them.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty
Throughout the tour, architectural renderings helped students imagine what the building would look like when construction is completed.
Caption:
Throughout the tour, architectural renderings helped students imagine what the building would look like when construction is completed.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty
Maseeh Hall Housemaster Jack Caroll talks to a tour about the new Maseeh dining hall, which will be a state of the art facility that serves not only the dorm's residents but the larger campus community, as well.
Caption:
Maseeh Hall Housemaster Jack Caroll talks to a tour about the new Maseeh dining hall, which will be a state of the art facility that serves not only the dorm's residents but the larger campus community, as well.
Credits:
Photo: Thomas Gearty

The Department of Residential Life opened the doors to Maseeh Hall this month to give the student community a sneak peek at MIT’s newest undergraduate dormitory.

The building, which is the final months of construction and renovation, is slated to join the residential system in fall 2011. The Feb. 12 open house offered prospective residents guided tours, as well as the chance to meet the housemasters, to talk to student members of the Phoenix Group, and to learn more about the community forming in advance of the opening.

More than 100 students turned out for the tours. After checking in at a welcome station in the McCormick dining hall — where students could get a snack along with their required safety goggles and construction helmuts — groups of 12 to 15 participants walked through Maseeh. Stops included the lobby, the new Howard Dining Hall, some common areas and student rooms on the residential floors.

At the day’s start, Dean for Student Life Chris Colombo and Senior Associate Dean for Residential Life Henry Humphreys gave a preview tour through the building to senior Vrajesh Modi, the Undergraduate Association (UA) president; senior Christina Johnson, the DormCon president; and sophomore Alex Lai, the UA secretary and Next House president.

“I think the tour was a great success. Many students came out of the building looking and sounding very excited about moving into Maseeh,” said Carolina Roque, the president of the Phoenix Group. “Overall, the students I talked to were very impressed with the building.”

Miss the tour? Visit Tech TV to see a virtual tour of the building and its current construction efforts.

Related Links

Related Topics

More MIT News

Headshot of Catherine Wolfram

A delicate dance

Professor of applied economics Catherine Wolfram balances global energy demands and the pressing need for decarbonization.

Read full story