Living at Claremont McKenna College’s North Quad dorms — Appleby, Boswell, Green and Wohlford — has always had one major drawback: no air conditioning. However, after summer efforts and some preliminary complications during the first week of school, August 28 marked the first time in CMC history that North Quad residents could enjoy fully functioning AC.
The North Quad AC development was announced in an email from Jenny Tyniec, CMC senior assistant dean of students for residential life and student engagement, prior to last spring’s room draw. The email described the college’s plans to upgrade the north residential area’s power grid capabilities, allowing for future permanent AC installation. Tyniec said that since this large project will likely take years to complete, CMC planned to use the summer to install portable AC units for North Quad residents in the meantime.
“CMC has recognized the need to add air conditioning to the North Quad area as a means of ensuring a comfortable living and learning environment for students housed in these facilities,” Alex Boekelheide, associate vice president of strategic communications & marketing, said in a statement to TSL.
The administration did not comment on their reasoning behind the timing of this AC installation.
In August, when some students arrived on campus early, the individual AC units were still in their experimental stages.
“There was probably like two hours a day where the AC was working,” Wohlford resident Luke Gildred CM ’27 said.
Gildred moved in on Aug. 12 alongside fellow Stag football players. Being out at practice during the day, Gildred said the evening was when reliable AC was the most important.
“I wear a WHOOP to track my sleep and my recoveries and I definitely saw like a drop in my recovery by about at least 25 percent for my sleep scores once the AC turned off at night,” he said.
Although Gildred chose to brave the heat, some North Quad residents got creative with their sleeping arrangements.
Jenner Baumhackl CM ’28 relocated to his friends’ dorms for the night. He said that the fan the dean of students gave him wasn’t enough to combat the heat and he wasn’t interested in the alternatives the administration provided: a temporary second room or sleeping in Roberts on an air mattress.
“It was hard because you want to just have your own space and just sleep in your own room, and it would feel weird to be displaced, like in the gym,” Baumhackl said. “The next best thing was to find other people’s rooms, but even then, it’s not very fun living out of your backpack.”
Evan Gerber CM ’27 and his roommate took up CMC’s make-shift housing offer, temporarily relocating to Allen dorm at night.
“We just had sheets and a blanket in there and we would come back to the [North Quad] room for everything else during the day,” Gerber said.
Escaping North Quad at night also meant avoiding the risk of electrical issues. Baumhackl said that when the AC wasn’t working, some residents would try unplugging and replugging it into a different outlet, sometimes causing a short circuit.
“I heard stories of, like a freshman blowing up their outlet from overrunning the AC or something,” Baumhackl said. “And another resident said that they got a personal text from the dean of students to turn it off.”
Although the process was “annoying,” as Baumhackl put it, Gildred said communication from the administration was consistent and transparent.
“It did feel like it kept on getting pushed back, but sometimes that’s how those things work I guess,” Gildred said.
At the end of the first week of classes, following weeks of electrical testing and frequent email updates from Jimmy Don, CMC dean of students, Gerber and Baumhackl were able to permanently reside in their respective North Quad dorms comfortably.
“It’s been really nice having the AC units in and they work really well now,” Baumhackl said. “Like, sometimes I have to turn it off, it’s so cold in the room, which is kind of crazy to think about.”
Gerber echoed this sentiment. Having lived in Crown and Faucet previously, he said the AC in Wohlford is now “way better” in comparison.
“I say that North is one of the better dorms now just because that AC is so valuable,” Gerber said. “The AC goes down to 61 and I keep my room at 61 all day long; it’s like an ice box.”
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