OUR new women’s dormitory, named in honor of Dr. Caroline Colvin, who has served the university for many years as professor of history and government and dean of women, looks out through its ready-made setting of spruce and maples upon Balentine and the setting sun. Its small, one-step-high porch, colonial pillars, and green painted door spell welcome in a modern way. If anyone had said even as short a time ago as one year, that there were to be pale green painted doors on our campus buildings, we would have thought "why, how out of place", but here they are on Colvin Hall and an interesting, modern touch they prove to be. It may be these very doors, and perhaps the lantern porch lights, too. which are responsible for the homelike atmosphere which lingers around in place of the cold, forbidding air of most dormitory entrances.

Colvin Hall, which is of modern colonial architecture, has two entrances; a side entrance faces the residence of Mr. Morton; some day it will face another dormitory since Colvin Hall is the first of a series of three buildings to be erected in close proximity. Another entrance, the main one, faces the road which winds back of Balentine. Over this entrance is a tall, arched window with iron balcony, and over this—in the gable—is a rose window. On the northeastern side of the building is the new home economics building, not yet completed.

The interior does not fail to fulfill, in warmth and homelike qualities, the promise of the exterior. Just beyond the entrance hall and to the right is the matron’s suite. Something which predicts a charming interior is the sight, as one goes past the doorway of the matron’s living room, of a tall colonial secretary and a most inviting tapestry wing chair, and, as one ventures closer, the glimpse of the golden brown tone of maple bedroom pieces. On the opposite side of the hall is a suite consisting of a study room and two bedrooms which will be occupied by four students. Beyond this, there is no long length of monotonous corridor to traverse because almost immediately it opens, on the right, by means of wide arched doorways, to the formal reception room and to the wide reception hall which opens from the side entrance vestibule.

On the left, also entered by wide arched doorways, is the large living room and to the left of this, the sun parlor. The living room with its fireplace at one end, the reception room, and the hall are furnished with beautiful persian patterned rugs and furniture in colonial style—gateleg and butterfly tables, fan and comb back Windsor chairs, and ladderbacks with rush seats—combined in complete harmony with modern easy chairs, davenports and love seats of light and graceful lines.

The furniture in these rooms is of brown mahogany and the upholstery of the cushioned pieces, mostly tapestry, blends perfectly. The Chippendale mirror and banjo clock in the reception ball, and the Cogswell chair and Sheraton console table in the living room are worthy of mention, not only because they are pleasing in themselves but also because they contribute enormously to the homelike atmosphere of the dormitory.

The sun parlor, two steps lower than the living room and entered by French doors, has colonial reproductions in beautiful maple wood and harmonizing modern pieces upholstered in tapestry in which soft browns and oranges predominate. One especially interesting piece here is a davenport with a butterfly arm at each end which can he dropped or raised, taking the place of an end table. The floor, as in the vestibules and bath rooms, resembles inlaid linoleum and is mottled green laid off in large blocks with a very narrow gold line.

At the lower right of the living room and connected by French doors is the attractive dining room. The square tables which seat eight are supplied with fan back Windsor chairs in maple. Even the dishes are different, being of solid color— an old rose, with a hint of yellow in it. All the window draperies downstairs are of cream net, except in the dining room where gayly flowered cretonne is at the windows. All walls are painted a cheerful cream color and the woodwork a bit darker. The last room on the first floor is the serving room, modernly equipped.

An effect of spaciousness is secured on this floor by the use of the two wide doorways on each side of the corridor and by the fact that one can see from the matron’s living room through the reception room, the hall, and into the dining room.

On the second and third floors the rooms are arranged in a manner which does away with the old method of living, studying, amid sleeping in one room. A suite consisting of one study room and two bedrooms accommodates four girls. The study room, of generous size, has four individual desks, each with a Windsor chair. The desks are very convenient, having several drawers at one side and a book shelf at the other. They are light enough to be moved about readily but nevertheless have plenty of room for study. Then there is a comfortable looking cushioned wicker chair.

Each of the two bedrooms connected with the study room has two single beds, an attractive bedside table, a chiffonier, and two wardrobes which are quite up-to-date, being equipped with a sliding rod amid even a shoe rack. Furniture in the suites is walnut finished.

Then on each floor is a marble encased shower (of course there are built-in tubs, too), a roomy linen closet, and a telephone for communication between floors. A trunk lift from top to bottom of the building and spacious trunk racks in the attic facilitate moving in and out.

In the basement is the convenient, up-to-date kitchen, storage room, servants’ rest room, and also a laundry and kitchenette for the students. This is equipped with not only with laundry tubs and built-in ironing boards, but also with a sink, workbench, cupboards, and shelves so that the girls may have some place of their own to use when giving teas or entertainments at the dormitory. This room will probably be equipped with dishes, hot plates, etc. by the girls themselves.

Furnishings for the dormitory, with the exception of the dining room, were chosen by Dean of Women Achsa Bean, Professor Rena Campbell of the Home Economics Department, and Treasurer F. S. Youngs. The dining room furnishings were selected by Miss Hazel Parks, Director of Dining Halls.

Colvin Hall, which accommodates a total of forty-eight students, is occupied by some girls from each class. Seniors are in the majority, juniors are next in number, sophomores next, and the freshmen number only four. The exact number of girls allowed from each class was determined before the drawing for rooms took place.

Mrs. Delia Sullivan has become matron of Colvin Hall while her former place at Balentine has been taken by Mrs. Madeleine J. Walenta from South China, Maine.