The New School’s Clothesline Project 2012

We are proud to announce The New School’s Clothesline Project 2012. You may have noticed the t-shirts hanging in the Stuyvesant Park Residence Hall Lobby, if not, take a look! The Clothesline, beginning in 1990 in Hyannis, Massachusetts, has become a national awareness campaign about sexual assault and domestic violence. The New School has participated for several years, but this is the first year it is located in our residence halls.

2012 Clothesline Project Display at Stuyvesant Park Residence

By creating The Clothesline Project at The New School we encourage residents to tell their story in their own unique way, using words and/or artwork to decorate the shirt. Once finished, it then hangs on the clothesline. This very action serves many purposes. It acts as an educational tool for those who come to view the Clothesline; it becomes a healing tool for anyone who made a shirt - by hanging the shirt on the line, survivors, friends and family can literally turn their back on some of that pain of their experience and walk away; finally it allows those who are still suffering in silence to understand that they are not alone.

If you are a survivor of sexual assault and/or domestic violence, you are not alone, and help is available. Reaching out for help can be difficult, but it is the most important step in taking care of yourself and beginning the healing process.

As a New School student you may contact any of the following offices:

• Student Health Services, Counseling Services 
- Telephone: 212.229.1671, option 1
• Student Support and Crisis Management - Telephone: 212.229.5900 x3189 or x3710
• Housing - Your RAs, HRs, GHC’s and RHD’s are all prepared to advocate for any resident who has survived violence, and can help you contact other resources on campus.

The city also has resources for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors;

• Safe Horizon: Rape and Sexual Assault Hotline - 212.227.3000

• Safe Horizon: New York City Domestic Violence Hotline - 800.621.4673

• NYC Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project - 212.714.1141

If you would like to make a shirt to add to the project please contact student health services at wellness@newschool.edu.

Please take a moment to notice the t-shirts around campus, educate yourselves on the issues surrounding intimate partner violence, and then help us to continue to be a university that will not tolerate sexual assault or domestic violence.

February's Program of the Month - Now and Then: The History of Black Music

Stuyvesant Park RA Bianca Mills' program "Now and Then: The History of Black Music" was a program about exactly that.

In honor of Black History Month, Bianca thought it would be interesting as well as important to depict how music played a role in African American Culture both in the past and the present. The program was a semi-elaborate way of comparing and contrasting the similarities of today's music with the music from the past. Everything was covered, from old time Jazz to current Hip-Hop, Rap, and R&B.

In order to best capture the essence of what Bianca wanted to portray, she asked Music Professor Richard Harper to come in as a guest speaker to educate residents about the different messages that music sends in Black Culture. Having him as part of the program is one of the things that made it so successful. He is very knowledge on the topic and new exactly how to bring this program full circle.

Another reason this program brought great success is because there was just the right balance of hands on interaction and discussion as well as learning. Since the program covered music from both the present and the past, residents were able to learn a few things as well as relate and participate.

In addition to all of the elements of the program itself, the overall success of the program heightened from the contributions of Dan Spicer, Alex Gleason, and Jacob Hernandez. They were all there to lend a helping hand as well as give their input to make this program possible.

Summer in NYC with a Free Room? Be a Summer OA

** Thank you for you interest, but we are no longer accepting applications for the Summer 2012**

The Office of Student Housing & Residence Life seeks to hire several Office Assistants (OAs) to compliment our summer 2012 housing program.

Qualified Applicants will:
· Be available to work from May 21st through August 12th
· Be available to work 20 hours per week, Monday - Friday between the hours of 9am – 7pm.
· Enrolled in classes during the 2011-2012 or 2012-2013 academic years

Summer Office Assistants are compensated for their summer work with a shared space within the building to which they are assigned.

Click here for the Summer Office Assistant Online Application (No longer available)

If you have questions, please feel free to contact myhome@newschool.edu or talk with your Resident Hall Director, Graduate Hall Coordinator, or Head Resident.

Reason Why It's Better to Live On Campus

Housing Selection is right around the corner (April 2nd deadline for applications) and you will want to know as much as possible about choosing your home for the next academic year. Here are some reasons to live on campus...

 Reasons why it’s better to LIVE ON!

Did you know that students living on campus...

• Do better academically than those who do not
• Are more likely to return to college the following year
• Are more likely to persist at college until graduation
• Have a higher degree of satisfaction with their college experience
• Participate in more extracurricular activities
• Have more interpersonal relationships with students, faculty and staff

PLUS, when you live on campus...

1. You have art studios, TV, and study lounges downstairs, instead of late nights in the library or studio.
2. You have a Security Officer at your door 24/7 for safety, instead of a Chihuahua who barks at every passing car, but loves strangers.
3. You have laundry facilities right downstairs, which is better than spending your weekends sitting at the Laundromat.
4. You have a better sense of community and social opportunities in your building, so you don’t have to find yourself wondering who the weird neighbor is.
5. You have one convenient bill for everything, instead of losing track and bouncing a check on your already depleting account.
6. You have staff available 24/7 to support you, which beats trying to locate your landlord, who only shows up to collect rent.
7. You get a new roommate if yours moves out mid-year, instead of paying increased rent when your friend decided to transfer.
8. You are close to your classes, so you don’t have to ride the crowded, long subway from Queens or Brooklyn.
9. You have leadership opportunities right in your hall, rather than making up stuff to put on your resume.
10. You have free high-speed internet, so you don’t have to play guessing games with your neighbor’s Wifi password.  

January's Program of the Month - Begin.Eat.Balance

Soon after the January new student check-in, the William Street RAs put together a program designed to help the 60+ new students start off on the right foot academically, and also to adapt to some of the special challenges that living at William Street presents for new students. 

The program, "Begin.Eat.Balance", consisted two distinct parts. The first phase featured several different "stations" around the student lounge, each offering different information and one-on-one counseling to help new residents begin the semester properly. Some of these stations included a table with information on where to purchase cheap art supplies, a table with information and counseling on time management and organization, a table with subway information and maps, and a table with information and assistance just for the new Pace University students living amongst our New School students. 

The second phase consisted of a fun "cooking show", where three RAs provided recipes and showed new residents how to use the convections ovens located in each apartment. A convection oven was brought down to the lounge, printed copies of recipes including gnocchi, cornbread, and chili were provided, and residents got to actually sample the tasty delight of each of these. 

Later on, all recipes were posted on the very active William Street facebook page. All in all, this program served a great need, and was a blast for all involved!

Here are some of the great resources from the event:

A list of ingredients for a great meal for 10 under $10!

Hall Councils Come Together for Mardi Gras

The Hall Councils of Loeb and 13th Street came together to host a Mardi Gras party at Loeb on Fat Tuesday 2012.

There was a live band of New School students, plenty of green, yellow and purple decorations, and food for all to enjoy.  The night was topped off with authentic king cakes ordered from the Mardi Gras capital, New Orleans, Louisiana.

The event really brought the two buildings together, creating a successful and well attended multipurpose program (social and multicultural) and encouraged collaboration between buildings, using the resources and talents of  both the Hall Councils and RAs.

- Laissez les bons temps rouler 

December's Programs of the Month - 20th Street and Stuy Park

We tried and tried, but with the great programs that happened in December we couldn’t pick just one!

Here are the 2 programs that tied for Program of the Month for December 2011:

20th Street – Loving Lampposts

RAs from the 20th Street staff, led by, Joel Arken, and in collaboration with Hall Council, screened the film "Loving Lampposts" in November 2011.

This film is about the autism spectrum and the many responses to the crisis of autism diagnoses and was shown to a group of residents in the 20th Street Residence Hall. After the film, there was an hour-long discussion about representations of people on the autism spectrum and the different strategies to better understand autism. Several residents had experience working in nonprofits or having family members on the spectrum, so there were many diverse experiences that helped shape a fascinating discussion. Due to the success of this event, a follow-up program might take place in the spring semester!

Stuyvesant Park – Be Good, Be Green, Be Glamorous!


Stuyvesant Park RA, Ayanna Heaven, noticed that our students have a passion for clothing and for sustainability. She saw this as a great need for students to be given different options for accumulating clothing and introduce a new way of thinking about consumerism. The idea of a Stuyvesant Park clothing swap event was born!

When a student gave an article of clothing, he/she received an entry ticket to come to the event. After 2 days of clothing collection, the big swap event occurred on November 17th. At the event, the clothing and accessories were arranged on racks and tables in a retail fashion. The Stuyvesant Park Study Lounge was truly transformed into a clothing boutique. It was very reminiscent of a Fashion's Night Out event, promoting residents to give pieces so that they were given a ticket to come. There were hors-d'oeuvres, music, and goody bags at the event for them. Residents seemed to really dig the clothes that they got, and it was a good turnout.