Risley Hall
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| Cornell University campus | |
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| Risley Hall | |
| Use | Residential college, Dining hall, Theater |
| Style | Tudor gothic |
| Erected | 1913 |
| Demolished | N/A |
| Location | North Campus, Ithaca, New York |
| Namesake | Prudence Risley |
| Architect | William Henry Miller |
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| Website | http://www.risley.org |
Prudence Risley Residential College for the Creative and Performing Arts, commonly known as Risley Residential College, Risley Hall, or just Risley, is a program house, or themed residence hall, at Cornell University. Unlike most other traditional dormitories on campus, Risley is a residential college, meaning that the house members, "Risleyites", are encouraged to eat together at the in-house dining hall, can live as house members for all four or five years they spend enrolled at Cornell, and participate in educational activities, such as guest lectures, within their dormitory. For this reason, Risleyites are generally seen as one of the closest knit group of students on campus. The building houses 192 students who are admitted by applications that are reviewed by current Risleyites and two Artists-In-Residence ("AIRs"), who live in the building and organize regular programs in which the house members participate. Currently, Risley's Artists-In-Residence are Greg Halpern and Gaea Denker-Lehrman. Previous AIRs include Brandon Bird. Many famous people have visited the house for intimate discussions with the Risleyites, such as John Cleese who hosted a question and answer session after the showing of his film A Fish Called Wanda.
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[edit] History
In 1911, Mrs. Russell Sage donated $300,000 to the University for the construction of a women's dormitory. At her request, the building was named after her husband's mother, Prudence Risley. The building was opened to students in 1913.
In 1970, under the guidance of Ruth Darling, the University converted Risley into a co-ed creative arts themed dormitory, the campus's first program house. Judith Goodman had been looking for a house to share with some of her more artistic friends. When she asked Cornell about the house she wanted, they said it had just been given away, but offered Risley instead. The cost of running the fancy all-female dorm was too much, and Cornell was going to shut Risley down.[1]
After several attempts to develop an acceptable plan for running Risley as an arts dorm, and much Cornell paperwork aided by Ruth, Judith and her friends finally got her vision of Risley approved. In the first year, the college received over 1000 applications for the roughly 200 spots in the building. [2]
Their system of government in 1970 is similar to the current one today, though there have been many amendments to the Risley Charter in the intervening years.
Notable former Risley residents include Margaret Bourke White, Barbara McClintock, Matt Ruff, Jamie Silverstein, Janet Reno, Christopher Reeve, Andre Balazs, Mia Korf, Andrew C. Greenberg, and Elspeth Huxley.
[edit] Facilities
As a dormitory, Risley offers a unique living experience. The Tudor Gothic building itself is shaped like a large, red castle, modeled directly on Hampton Court Palace in England. When constructed, the architect, William H Miller, was requested to design the floor plan such that no two rooms would be identical. Consequently, the rooms vary greatly. Sizes range from a single room that is 93 square feet (9 m²), a former maid's room, to a double room that is 273 square feet (25 m²), the largest double on campus. Various room features include balconies, fireplaces, dumbwaiter shafts, secret stairwells, bay windows, embrasures, and turrets. At the request of Andrew Dickson White, the Risley Great Hall was constructed as an exact replica of the dining hall at Oxford's Christ Church's own dining hall.[3] Harry Potter fans might notice that since the Christ Church dining hall was where part of the Harry Potter movie was filmed, the Risley dining hall looks almost exactly like the Hogwarts Great Hall.
In order to fulfill its purpose of encouraging creativity, the residence offers a variety of outlets. All residents have access to music practice rooms, pianos, an in-house theatre where several shows are performed each semester, workshops for art, digital music, jewelry, sewing, printmaking, video editing, woodworking, metalworking, stained glass, and pottery, as well as a recording studio, a darkroom, and a small library. Unlike other houses, the affairs of the building are managed by an elected student government, "Kommittee", which determines the budget, use of facilities, and allocation of funds. Kommittee even allows students to paint the interior walls of the building, which has resulted in numerous murals on all the hallways painted by the residents. On many Saturdays throughout the school year, the students run a coffee house, "Tammany", where regional bands come to perform. Students have created numerous special interest groups/clubs to meet their interests including a debate society ("The Society for Individualists"), a theatre troupe ("Risley Theatre"), and a classic video gaming group ("Nintendo Church") among others.
[edit] Traditions
The hall hosts numerous annual events. For example, on the weekend before Halloween, students take advantage of the "eerie architecture" by hosting a large combination dance party and haunted house called MasqueRave. Since the late 1970s, on the weekend following Halloween, an in-house group, the "Denton Drama Troupe," has hosted a live performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show in the Great Hall. Because both of these events draw hundreds of people, they generate the revenue that supports smaller projects. Other events include themed dinners, such as Harry Potter Night, and a reading of Handel's Messiah.
Legend says that Prudence Risley, affectionately known as "Auntie Prue", haunts the buildings, flickering the lights whenever she appears. There are some who doubt the stories, though, and wonder if these "hauntings" might actually be the result of old wiring and the imaginations of overtired students.[4]
[edit] Risley in literature
- Fool on the Hill by Matt Ruff
- The Salt Point by Paul Russell
- [1] in goats, a webcomic
[edit] References
[edit] See also
Hutchinson Hall, University of Chicago, another building with a hall based upon Christ Church's
[edit] External links
- Risley Hall official website
- The Campus Life Risley Page
- A Risley brochure circa 1976
- The Risley Lexicon
- Risley Theatre
- Virtual Risley Tour
- Picture of Risley in 1919
- 360* tour of Christ Church College at Oxford. Risley's Great Hall is a replica of Christ Church's Great Hall.
- Risleyite building tour
