I live in Earl Garver Hall, known commonly just as Garver. It’s a co-ed, traditional style dorm, and the only one out of the traditional dorms that has air conditioning (a blessing, but only for a few short weeks). The building is split into two wings, a male and a female, and is situated closest to the PERC (athletic facilities) and the Jo Young Switzer Center, which holds the buffet and The Oaks, a sandwich shop. This you can probably find from reading the description on the Manchester web page, so let’s dig into the good stuff.

I’m here to put an emphasis on the social in social dorm. People will congregate on your floor, and may be up late. There will be people who keep their doors open most of the time, and even yell down the hall from their room to others. If sounds like your kind of thing, great!

For me, I chose Garver because I wanted a setting that would push me to make friends. And I found them! We aren’t as outgoing or social as some of the other girls in the hall, but we still enjoy it just as much.

Because it’s the social dorm, sometimes your room isn’t the quietest place to study. Fortunately, Manchester has a bunch of place to take your homework, like the study rooms in the library or sitting areas in the Academic and Science buildings. Places like the Chapel and the Jo Young Switzer center are open 24/7. Great for a late night study session, and suuuper quiet!

Garver’s got four levels. The top 3 are completely res hall rooms, with a study room and bathroom in each wing. The ground floor of Garver hosts two laundry facilities (free of charge!), Lauren’s apartment (she’s Garver’s Hall Director), and a sitting/game room common area, along with a small kitchen, which is open for any resident to use (you just have to ask the Resident Assistant on duty for utensils), and there are men’s rooms on the men’s side of the hall.

Garver RAs host a ton of events, especially at the beginning of the year to help people get to know each other. Since the RAs are students, the floor events are really fun, and usually get the point across about a topic that needs to be covered on campus.

Garver’s also known for events like Haunted Garver, when local kids come and trick or treat for Halloween. We’ve also won the Homecoming lobby decorating competition for the past few years, (incentive, I know right?)

Living in Garver has its challenges (Sometimes the stairwells aren’t the cleanest. Some people just haven’t learned how to pick up after themselves yet). But it’s a part of the college experience. Now that you’re branching out on your own, you aren’t going to be comfortable 100% of the time, and THAT’S OKAY! There are so many people on campus to help you along and answer any of those questions, and a lot of those people can be found in Garver. I hope you’ll join us!