The Fantastic Freddies and Where to Find Them

ANYA FORSBERG ’19

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Fred is a uniquein and of itself, and the people who live there are much the same. The community was started in memory of Fred Pfeil; a man who embodied the best traits of the hippy movement. He inspired these characteristics in the founding members of the Fred, and the community has stayed true its roots.

The Fred is one of the nicer dorms on campus, with a large common room, fully stocked kitchen, library on the first floor, quads on the second to fourth floors and singles on the fifth and sixth floors. The community keeps an open door policy, which means it’s easy to walk into other’s common rooms to catch up with friends. Impromptu hangouts in these spaces are a staple of the Fred, even though the fifth and sixth floors have their own common rooms. The entire building has a warm and homey feeling, as it’s fully furnished with only the comfiest of couches.

The thing that truly sets the Fred apart from other residence halls and communities is its weekly events. The Fred strives to be an inclusive and fun place so every week the Fred holds an event, usually in its common room. Fred members brain storm as a community and bring to life these great ideas. We open and close each semester with an open mic coffeehouse, which welcomes any talents or any type of performances. Due to this rule there are some very weird performances indeed. There are several traditional performances, one of them being bad poetry reading. Though my favorite performance has to be the reading of “truly terrible smut” and I can tell you now it gets graphic and confusing. Intermingled between the funny and confusing acts, various people share actual talents that are genuinely interesting and impressive.

While the coffeehouse is the most notable event, others have included building-wide nerf gun fight, murder mystery night, and casino night. The events are different every week and always open to new ideas.

The Fred co-sponsors events around campus as well. This is a great way to get new people involved with the community and a way to open ourselves up to new experiences. If you’re a part of a club that could use some support, or a couple of helping hands, the Fred is more than happy to help, just contact us. This community is student driven; each year here is a unique experience shaped by those that participate in creating it.