In fall 2006 male UW-Madison students will go where no man has gone before - into Elizabeth Waters Hall, not as visitors, but as residents. The all-female dorm, termed The Virgin Vault by students, will go co-ed for the first time since it opened in 1940, according to a UW statement.
Ashley Watkins, a UW-Madison sophomore, listed Liz Waters as her first choice freshman year.
\My main reason for choosing Liz Waters was because of its central location, because it was on the lake and it has the largest rooms,"" she said.
But a shift in housing preferences among incoming students led to the decision to open Liz Waters to men.
The number of women requesting the dorm has dropped in past years, with less than 200 new applicants annually. Elizabeth Waters is equipped with 488 beds, forcing housing officials to assign residents to a hall not of their choosing.
In an effort to keep some form of single-sex housing, University Housing will designate Cole Hall, which has a 244 beds, as an all-female dorm beginning fall 2006.
Accordingly, the Women in Science and Engineering program will relocate to Cole Hall.
Aside from facilities for the WISE program, Liz Waters offered residents an ARCH computer lab and a dining room located within the building and some mourned the loss of such a comprehensive facility reserved for UW-Madison women.
""Liz Waters sets a different atmosphere from the rest of the dorms on campus,"" said Watkins. ""It's kind of a shame to see that very long tradition cease to exist.""
Liz Waters is not the first historically female dorm to go co-ed. Chadbourne Hall began accepting male residents in 1995 and Barnard Hall made the switch in 2001.
