For students and alums alike, Frosh Quad is emblematic of the College. Sage Hall and Williams Hall are stately, matching buildings that house approximately half of the first-year class. Their exteriors are about as picturesquely New England as a college campus can get. But what about their interiors? This week, the Record’s features editors decided to take a tour of the two residence halls to explore the most lavishly decorated common rooms (“crooms”) of Frosh Quad.
Our journey started on the first floor of Sage, in section F, the part of the building closest to the Park Street gates. Sage 1, themed Temple Run, provided a dizzying maze of tiki lights, Christmas stockings, and other miscellaneous decor, all without a thoughtfully-curated croom in sight. The first croom we encountered that seemed to have put serious thought into its decor was Sage 2D.
Upon entering Sage 2D, themed Scooby-Doo, we were greeted at the door by a mannequin dressed in a spray-painted hoodie, jeans, and Timberland boots. After a closer look around the croom, we found a Pokémon blanket, a New York City “one-way” sign, lots of stuffed animals, and, of course, numerous Scooby-Doo related items, such as a life-size cutout of Scooby himself.
Sage 2 Junior Advisor (JA) Jack Allen Greenfield ’27, the primary decorator of the croom, described its atmosphere as “maximalist, artsy fartsy, bisexual frat bro.” Greenfield said that the croom has become known for a unique trademark — a giant American flag featuring Nicki Minaj saluting in the center.
The eclectic decor serves a purpose, Greenfield said. He hopes his croom creates a welcoming environment for his frosh. “I want my kids to feel comfortable around me, like they can talk to me,” he said. “This is sort of a childish room, so they know, ‘He’s a junior, but we can talk to him about [anything] or come to him for help.’”
Greenfield’s co-JA, Charis Woo ’27, has found that the chaotically decorated croom has become well-known in Sage, but for unexpected reasons. “I think it’s funny that people seem to know this croom as the Nicki Minaj croom,” she said. “That was never the intention… Jack Allen generally has very eccentric taste in decorations.”
Woo recommended a few other crooms on her floor for us to explore, asking if we had yet seen the dragon in Sage 2E croom. We had not, so we decided to continue down the length of the floor to find an inflatable dragon left over from Winter Carnival festivities.
As we continued our journey through Sage, passing from dark and unadorned rooms to cozy spaces illuminated by lamps and TVs, we stumbled upon a croom that focused above all on utility. Sage 3 JA Devon Pawlak ’27 has turned his croom into a makeshift coffee shop, installing a coffee machine by the window, along with various metal cups and utensils, and a miniature desk surrounded by papers and course packets.
Pawlak, who was in his room with the door open when we entered the croom, said that the small size of his room prompted him to make the croom into a more multipurpose and functional space. “I find myself working at that desk a lot,” he said. During one-on-one check-ins with his frosh, he even offers students free coffee.
Venturing beyond the enticing scent of coffee beans, before long, we found ourselves surrounded by plants and antiques in Sage 3C, and later in what felt like an art gallery. In Sage 4C’s croom, drawings hung from door to door, commemorating an art student’s labor. Depicting everything from plants to scenery on campus, the art was reminiscent of a warmer first semester. Feeling a little bit more cultured than we had before stepping into Sage, we exited, walking across the quad to the beloved Williams Hall, better known to its residents as Willy.
Inside, we soon realized that not every croom had been given the love that it deserved. Whether due to an attached vacant dorm room or the touch of a minimalist resident, some crooms contained only college-provided furniture. Others were decorated only by a shoe rack, a recurring motif especially on Willy’s upper floors.
“Barren” is one word that could describe more crooms in the building than anticipated. Still, some crooms in Willy did not disappoint. We found ourselves fully entertained as we swung open each of Frosh Quad’s seemingly endless doors, never sure of what to expect beyond each threshold.
One croom especially surprised us with its lack of cohesion, but we loved it nonetheless. Upon entering Willy 1B, we were greeted with the image of an elephant in a bathtub and a Brazilian flag hanging as the space’s central decor. If there’s one thing we learned walking through the quad, it is that the best theme for a croom can sometimes be no theme at all.
On the other hand, some crooms held tight to their entries’ theme. Willy 3D, in particular, leaned into the entry’s under-the-sea theme, with walls and ceilings covered with paper jellyfish and woven blue nets, stuffed ocean animals and blue blankets on the sofas, and a blue light that created the perfect mermaid-friendly atmosphere.
Willy 3 JA Asa Shepard ’27 said that having his frosh contribute to the elaborate decoration of the croom has fostered community in his entry. “The frosh have been huge in the process of decorating and designing the croom,” he said of the Willy 3D croom. “They have not only enjoyed it during snacks, but also given their own suggestions on what could be added.”
If you are interested in replicating our tour of Frosh Quad crooms, be sure to visit the Record’s honorable mentions: Willy B1, the most beautifully color coordinated, carpeted, and decorated croom; Willy 4C, which featured the most shoes of any of the crooms we visited (but not the most shoe racks).
If you want to tally the number of oddities scattered around Frosh Quad, please feel free to compare your counts to ours. We found three drying racks holding various amounts of laundry, two inflatable dragons, two portraits of famous women superimposed on American flags, and one TV roughly the size of a twin-XL mattress.
