About
Overview
Whether you be an upcoming first year, or a rising senior, there are plenty of reasons why Maseeh could be the right dorm for you!
Maseeh Hall, offcially designated W1, is the largest undergraduate dorm at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and one of the newest. We have 77 singles, 158 doubles, 15 triples, and 13 quads in the building for a total capacity of 500+ residents.
Located in the center of campus, you have easy access to the student center, the 'Z', and the academic buildings. Maseeh also overlooks the Charles river, and has easy access to public transportation into Boston.
Maseeh also has the largest dining hall on campus; the Howard Dining Hall serves 19 meals a week, including weekday breakfast and lunch, weekend brunch, and daily dinners.
A Look Inside:
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A Brief History...
The Beginnings of Your New Home
The Building In 1901, the Riverbank Court Hotel was built in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1937, MIT bought the then-bankrupt hotel, and converted it to the second graduate dorm in the country, Ashdown House. In 2008, the graduate residents of Ashdown moved into New Ashdown (NW34), while W1 underwent renovations to become an undergraduate dorm. Thanks to a generous gift from Fariborz Maseeh ScD ’90 and other donors, MIT was able to complete construction and open Fariborz Maseeh Hall in 2011.
The Beginning In the spring of 2008, ten undergraduates from across campus met with Heads of House Suzanne Flynn (Professor, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy) and Jack Carroll to form an incubator community for W1. The Founders Group consisted of Charles DeRobertis '10, Andrew Jones '10, Cecilia Louis '10, Stephan Hawthorne '11, Wayne Hollman '11, Aissata Nutzel '11, Andrew Sugaya '11, Karl Wolff '11, Moji Jimoh '12, Cydnie Trice '12, and Kristen Martinez. The founders chose to call themselves The Phoenix Group to symbolize the rebirth of an undergraduate community from the 'ashes' of Ashdown. Karl Wolff was elected the first president.
The Core Goal In their first meeting, the Founders established their core goal in founding a new community: to create a community that feels welcoming and inclusive to all its residents - ‘a house that is open to all residents on every floor’.
Community Model A trip to Cambridge University in England for a group of Founders and members of the development team established another principle for the house. Discussions there with members of several Cambridge colleges emphasized the importance of an integrated residential, dining, and academic experience to the success of those residences. “We're not just a dorm,” was a repeated theme. That experience was critical in setting the vision for Maseeh as an integrated living and learning community where experience on and beyond the MIT campus are integral parts of house life. Maseeh maintains close collaborations with MIT’s Global Education Office, and visiting scholars from Cambridge, Oxford, and other international universities have been frequent guests in Maseeh.
The Phoenix Group In the fall of 2008, fifty members of the Phoenix Group moved into the new Ashdown House (NW35) at the invitation of the Ashdown graduate community. They remained there until the renovations to W1 (stripped down to its bare bones and reconstructed) were completed, learning from the experience of living together and checking on the progress of renovations.
The Values In the fall of 2010, the Phoenix Group conducted a retreat to formulate a set of core principles that could provide a basic vision while allowing flexibility for future residents to grow the community. “Be you with us” was adopted as a motto to reflect the house values of openness, inclusivity, and individuality.
Opening In August 2011, Maseeh Hall opened its doors for the first 462 residents.
