H&D increases residential college ambiance funds

By Richie Su     10/24/23 11:12pm

Housing & Dining has increased the ambiance fund from $9,000 to $14,000 for each residential college starting this semester. 

The ambiance fund is a portion of the housing budget allocated to help improve colleges’ overall appearance and facilities. 

“Ambiance funds have been provided to the colleges for years to help enhance common spaces outside of capital improvements and maintenance repair,” Beth Leaver, the interim executive director of H&D, wrote in the email to the Thresher. “It is to improve the ‘ambiance’ of the college and H&D works with college leadership on these special projects.” 

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Will Rice College President Gazi Fuad said he appreciates the additional funding and that Will Rice’s external vice presidents are still planning how to distribute the budget increase. 

“I think $5,000 is a pretty satisfying amount,” Fuad, a senior, said. “We talked about it in our external college meetings. Some ideas we had were to create a Will Rice-specific gym and also quad renovations.”

Representatives at Jones College also discussed potential uses of the ambiance fund. 

“Honestly, I appreciate [that Rice is increasing the fund] because it shows that there are people who care about us,” Naayaa Mehta, a Jones freshman and floor representative, said. “I am interested in seeing better quality stuff, like more bathroom stalls for [the] South building.”

Jones ambiance coordinator Arryana Lyon said she hopes to use the extra funds to rethink the interior design of college spaces.

“I’m a strong advocate for designing spaces to be both functional and aesthetically pleasing to boost positive vibes and productivity,” Lyon, a sophomore, said. “Something I would like to do is look into re-imagining spaces on different floors to have more communal spaces throughout each building.”

Teressa Tu, a freshman at Duncan College, said that she would feel a stronger sense of belonging if her college was better decorated. She thinks that a well-decorated space would reflect Rice’s humanistic culture more.

Fuad said the ambiance fund replaced H&D’s previous practice of matching college funds. 

“As far as I know, [previously] H&D gave us $5,000 to spend on the ambiance fund. Then if the college puts up $2,000 of our own budget, they will match that $2,000 and give us another $2,000,” Fuad said. “This year, there’s no matching structure, and they increased the ambiance fund to $14,000 with $1,000 for the Green Fund [for EcoReps]. Generally, I’m pretty happy because it allows us to do more elaborate projects that we otherwise might not have been able to do.” 

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