Editor:

We could not help but notice the headline on Wednesday which read “Floodwater causes havoc in WSU dorm rooms.”  There is one issue with this headline and following subheading.  The term “dorm” is no longer a culturally accepted term.  According to the National Association of College and University Residence Halls (NACURH), of which Washington State University Residence Hall Association is an affiliate, the move was made “in 1955, the National Association of College and University Residence Halls, Inc. organization met on the campus of the University of Missouri and took a step to change the culture of the college environment.  It was at that conference the name was changed to the Association of College and University Residence Halls” which reflected the recognition of “those who contributed extraordinary amounts of personal time and energy in order to make the residence halls more than a ‘dorm.’”

That in mind, hundreds of residence hall students pick up your paper every day.  It is a lack of sensitivity with which you continually refer to our halls as dorms.  If you notice, in the first sentence of the article, the building is mentioned as “McEachern Hall,” as it should be, not “McEachern Dorm.”  Since you have been approached before without much luck from our RHA, we, as leaders in the residence halls, respectfully resubmit that you use “residence hall” or “res hall” instead of the term “dorm” because in the minds of some, it degrades the work that we and everyone within Residence Life do.

Jordan Vandermeulen

President, Residence Hall Association

Joey Pacific

ASWSU Senator, District 6

Ryan Stewart

ASWSU Senator, District 7

Rossetti Celis

ASWSU Senator, District 8

Charlie Hammerich

ASWSU Senator, District 9