Living on campus

There are four First-Year housing options. Both Doty and Turck exclusively house First-Year students. Bigelow and Dupre house both First-Years and Sophomores. 

Doty Hall

Room Dimensions: Double: 14’3” x 14’7” ; Singles: 14’3″ x 10’4″ 

Room Furnishings: Extra-long unlofted twin beds (36″ x 80″), desks, and desk chairs. Every room in Doty has a sink.

• The first floor is open to first year students requesting to live in an all-gender community. The first floor has double rooms and the bathroom is designated all-gender. 
• The second through fifth floors are designated single gender floors. The second through fifth floors have double rooms and 3 single rooms on each floor and single-gender bathroom corresponding to the gender designation of the floor. 
• Each floor has two study rooms, a lounge with cable TV and a kitchen with a stove, sink, and microwave. A formal lounge with fireplace and cable TV is located on the main floor.
• The laundry room is located on the lower level.

Turck Hall

*Bigelow and Turck halls are connected via a short sky-way. 

Room Dimensions: Double: 16’ x 12’; Triple 22’10” x 11’10” 

Room Furnishings:  Extra-long twin beds (36″ x 80″) , desks, desk chairs.  Closets have built-in dressers and hanging space. Every room in Turck has a sink. 

• All co-ed floors. Double rooms on all floors; the first floor has one triple room. Each floor has two bathrooms, one for men and one for women. 
• Each floor has a lounge with cable TV and a kitchenette with a stove, sink, and microwave. A formal lounge, The Sounds of Blackness Lounge, is located on the first floor. It is a bright and spacious room with a large meeting table and space to gather, relax and enjoy the large screen cable TV. Sounds of Blackness is a Grammy-Award-winning vocal and instrumental group that began on Macalester’s campus during the ’70s. Sounds of Blackness practiced and rehearsed in the lounge space, which is now beautifully dedicated to them.
• The laundry room is located on the lower level.

Dupre Hall

Room Dimensions: Single: 14’4” x 7’ ; Double: 14’8” x 14’4” ; Triple: 15’3″ x 15’5″ ; Quad: 14’4″ x 28’8″ (plus window alcove).

Room Furnishings: Dupre rooms have newer style extra-long twin beds (36” x 80”) that are lofted, with large desks, a desk chair, and dressers underneath.

• All co-ed floors. 60% double rooms and 40% single rooms on each floor. There are also two triple and one quad on each floor. Each floor has four bathrooms, two for men and two for women. 
• There are spacious informal lounges on each floor with a cable TV and a DVD player. A main/formal lounge with a large fireplace and cable TV is located on the first floor. 
• A laundry room is located on every floor. 

Bigelow Hall

*Bigelow and Turck halls are connected via a short sky-way. 

Room Dimensions: Single: 13’ x 10’; Double: 16’4” x 11’

Room Furnishings: Traditional style furniture with extra long single beds(36” x 80”) that can be bunked, desks, and a lounge chair in each room. Every room on the first, second and third floors in Bigelow has a sink; some of the rooms in the basements have sinks. 

• The basement and first floor are designated single gender floors; the basement floor is designated male only students, first floor designated female only. Mostly double rooms, some single rooms. Each floor has a single-gender bathroom corresponding to the gender designation of the floor. 
• The second and third floors are designated co-ed gender floors. Mostly double rooms, some single floors. Each floor has two bathrooms, one for men and one for women. 
• Each floor, except for the basement, has a lounge with comfortable gathering space and cable TV. Kitchens on the basement, second and third floors have kitchens with stoves, microwaves, sinks, counter tops and open shelf spaces. 
• Bigelow shares laundry facilities with two other residence halls, 30 Macalester Street and Wallace Hall. There are approximately 6 washers and 6 dryers in the basement below 30 Macalester Street, located between Bigelow and Wallace Halls.

Another (or other) First-Year(s)! We’ll do our best to assign you a room and roommate or possibly roommates (we have some triple and quad rooms) based on your preferences. 

Once your Macalester email account is established in early June and the housing materials are ready, we’ll email and ask you to complete the Housing and Dining Agreement and to answer a few questions about your preferences. 

All students will be able to select the housing arrangements that best fit their needs. Beginning this fall, our housing model will be gender-inclusive, which gives students the option to live with other students regardless of sex, gender, and/or gender identity, and have access to gender-inclusive bathrooms. Grounded in universal design, this model supports our students’ needs. While the majority of our residence halls will be gender-inclusive, some floors and spaces will have gender-specific rooms and bathrooms.

Some First-Year Courses are designated as residential courses. Students who enroll in one of these courses live near one another in the same residence hall, usually on the same floor. This facilitates discussion and group work outside of the classroom. Many courses also utilize student writing preceptors to provide additional writing support and peer mentoring. If you are assigned to a residential first-year course, the course location takes priority over your hall or room-type preference.

Wireless internet is widely available throughout campus and residence hall rooms.  Each room also has Ethernet ports for times when students may prefer to use a wired internet connection.

Yes! There are computer labs located in Doty and Dupre halls.

Dining Plan A – 19 meals per week, 100 flex points, 5 guest meals

Dining Plan B – 14 meals per week, 225 flex points, 5 guest meals

Dining Plan C – 10 meals per week, 300 flex points, 5 guest meals

(Plan details per semester) 

New First-Year students are assigned to Plan A for fall semester. They may change to Plan B or C spring semester.

Macalester has a number of dining options for students, faculty, staff, and visitors! These include Café Mac (main dining hall), the Grille, Nessie’s in the Loch on the Lower level of Campus Center, Atrium Market on the 2nd Floor of Campus Center, Scotties in the Leonard Center, and the Coffee Cart in Janet Wallace Fine Arts. 

Macalester contracts with Bon Appétit, a nation-wide food service company, to operate food service facilities on campus. Gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan options are available at all locations and labeled to help guide students to their preferred choice. 

Meal swipes and guest meal swipes can be used at any of the previously mentioned locations, except the Coffee Cart in Janet Wallace Fine Arts. Flex points can be used at all locations.

Yes! The residence halls have kitchens with microwaves and ovens. You may also check-out cooking supplies (pots, pans, baking sheets, etc.) from the hall office.

Each hall has at least one laundry room, and there is no charge for residents to use the washers and dryers. Our hall offices have an iron and ironing board for check-out if your clothes need pressing.

Yes. Campus quiet hours are in effect after 10 p.m. on weekdays and 1 a.m. on weekends. This includes noise within the residence halls as well as outside in courtyards or involving large gatherings of people. Courtesy hours are in effect at all times. Members of the community may be asked at any time to limit the amount of noise they are creating. If noise can be heard in the hallway 2 doors away from the room creating it, the noise is too loud for the residential community. Speakers or other amplified systems must be kept out of windows and not played in a manner that is disturbing to the community at large. During study days and final exam periods, 24-hour quiet hours are in effect in all college-owned halls and dwellings.

Each floor in the Residence Halls has an R.A. (Resident Assistant), a current Mac student who serves as a community builder, educator, and resource for students. The halls are also staffed by Hall Directors who manage the day-to-day operations of the halls and supervise the R.A.’s.

We are a very safe campus in a safe neighborhood of a safe city, and this should not be underestimated. Students feel comfortable walking around by themselves, but the college does have security measures in place to ensure that students continue to feel comfortable on their campus.

• Department of Public Safety The Department of Public Safety is staffed by full- and part-time Macalester College public safety officers 24 hours a day. The public safety dispatch center and office is located near the main entrance of the Campus Center.
• Campus Phones On every campus building there is a phone with a blue light on top (not the same thing as the traditional “blue light system”). These phones can be used to dial Public Safety, 911, or campus extensions.
• SAFEWalk Safety escorts are available 24 hours a day through the Department of Public Safety. Officers will escort community members to predetermined locations within a two mile radius of campus.
• Macalester Alert Macalester uses an emergency notification system to send text messages and emails in the event of an emergency where individuals need to take action or be aware of a developing situation affecting personal safety.
• Building Security Residence Halls are locked 24 hours a day and are accessible to students residing in the hall using their MacPass ID card. The MacPass can also be used to access 24 hour study spaces, and academic and administrative buildings during standard hours of operation.

• There are many activities, meetings, speakers, workshops, and events at practically every time of day. Different academic and non-academic departments organize speakers and workshops, all of which are free for students. Our Program Board often organizes movie screenings (horror films around Halloween, Oscar nominees, etc.) in addition to off-campus opportunities such as ice skating, apple picking, Winter Ball, subsidized event tickets, etc. Student organizations usually sponsor Kagin Dances and concerts, and Program Board also occasionally offers Mac at Nite activities on weekends. In short: There’s usually something happening on campus, and it rarely feels quiet!

Macalester currently has over 100 student organizations! Student orgs are run based on student initiative and interest, resulting in a large variety. Macalester offers student orgs that are religious, recreational, political, cultural, and everything in between. If you’re interested in something, you should be able to find other students who are interested in it as well!

If we don’t offer an organization based around a particular interest, you are able to start your own organization and have them chartered by MCSG.

Every fall and spring semester, a Student Org Fair on campus features all student orgs and activities, and allows students to sign up for them as well as gain a sense of what activities and clubs Macalester has to offer! You can also find current organizations and contacts here. 

Residential Life

651-696-6215

[email protected]