DAVID HARDEN/Arizona Daily Wildcat "Change is good," finance senior and Cochise resident assistant Chris Neilsen said about his dorm going co-ed next year. The dorm, which has some of the largest rooms on campus, has been an all-male dorm since it was built in 1921.

All-male hall all-male no longer; dorm will also help undeclared residents find majors

The last remaining all-male residence hall on campus will open its doors to members of the opposite sex in the fall.

After more than 75 years of housing only male students, Cochise will become co-ed, primarily because of a lack of interest in an all-male dorm, said Jim Van Arsdel, director of Residence Life.

"The demand for an all-male hall has diminished to about zero," Van Arsdel said.

In addition to becoming female-friendly, Cochise will also become a hall designed to house students who have not yet chosen a major.

Residence Life and University School, the college for undeclared and exploratory students, are working together to turn Cochise into a living environment that supports undeclared students.

They hope to offer programs in the hall, with the help of campus resources like Career Services and the University Learning Center, that are geared specifically toward helping undeclared students decide what they want to do.

"If someone is really searching, this could be really powerful and really helpful," Van Arsdel said.

While not everyone in Cochise will be undeclared, students who apply for fall housing will be able to indicate on their applications whether they would be interested in the option of living in a residence hall with a primary focus on undeclared students.

Van Arsdel said the decision to work with University School came after staff members at Cochise expressed concerns that removing the hall's all-male status would take away from its identity.

Residence Life decided to give the hall a new identity by teaming up with University School.

Residents of Cochise don't seem too upset over the demise of the last all-male hall.

And while not all of the residents know about the new educational focus in the hall, they are fully aware about the hall's coming co-ed status.

When you have a group of students who are focused on a particular discipline, like the sciences or fine arts, there's a common sense of conversational topics and a common sense of interests - Sylvia Mioduski director of the University School

"It's awesome," said Cochise resident David Lee with a smile. "It'll be nice not to just have a bunch of guys roaming around."

Lee, a business and physical therapy freshman, said he and his roommate were disappointed when they were assigned to an all-male hall in the fall, and said neither of them listed Cochise as a choice on their housing applications.

But Lee and his roommate intend to return to the dorm next year and are looking forward to living in a co-ed environment.

"Maybe it'll smell better," said Lee's roommate, Joe Pageler, a management information systems freshman.

Dan Izzo, a creative writing freshman, said he was also upset when he was assigned to an all-male hall.

"I'm from out of state and I knew it would be a lot harder to meet people, and this doesn't help," he said.

Izzo said he likes everything about Cochise, especially the large rooms there, but said the only thing missing is members of the opposite sex.

"It'll probably be the best dorm on campus next year," he said.

Estevan Rivera, a public administration sophomore, said he also thinks the addition of females to the hall will make it a better place.

"There's too much testosterone," he said.

But Rivera, who lived in Kaibab-Huachuca his freshman year, said he doesn't know if gearing the hall to undeclared students is such a good idea.

Rivera said that when he lived in Kaibab-Huachuca, he learned a lot about the university and different programs available just by interacting with a variety of residents with different majors.

He said he thinks if several undeclared students are grouped together in the same hall, they won't get feedback from other students who have declared majors.

But Sylvia Mioduski, director of the University School, said she thinks the interaction among undeclared students will have positive results.

"When you have a group of students who are focused on a particular discipline, like the sciences or fine arts, there's a common sense of conversational topics and a common sense of interests," she said. "That is also very common with undecided students as they are trying to figure out what they want to do."

Mioduski said there are just fewer than 4,000 students enrolled at University School, most of whom are freshmen and sophomores.

Students are required to declare a major before they complete 55 units of coursework at the UA, she said.

Van Arsdel said there are no plans to change the two all-female residence halls on campus ÷ Maricopa and Coconino ÷ because of continued demand for them.