Office ofResidential Life

Living among the new students is one Residential Community Advisor (RCA) per hall. This returning student will aid first-year and transfer students by introducing Haverford’s campus and academics along with serving as a guide as part of the year-long Customs program.

No. First-year students living at Haverford rely on the Residential Community Advisor (RCA) network for academic, social, and moral support. Each residence hall is assigned an RCA that acts as an on-hall support system throughout the academic year. Further, the First-Years are also assigned a Customs Group which is a team of returning students who will orient incoming students to campus through a week-long program known as Customs.

Upon arrival at Haverford, one of the first decisions first-year students make collectively as a hall is whether their residential bathrooms will be designated as all-gender or single-gender. An all-gender bathroom is a bathroom that anyone can use regardless of gender identity or expression.

For any number of reasons, a student may prefer to live in housing with all-gender bathrooms. However, this process of making a decision about bathroom designation on the hall may not be comfortable for some students who may not wish to share their opinions and preferences so publicly, even if they feel strongly one way or another. A student may feel that revealing their preference publicly to their hall might "out" themselves in relation to their gender identity or gender expression.

In keeping with the mission of the College to be an inclusive and welcoming community for all, one of first-year halls is pre-designated as an all-gender bathroom.

Note: All returning student housing at Haverford is designated as all-gender housing with all-gender bathrooms. This means that students may live with whomever they choose regardless of gender identity or expression and bathrooms in the residence halls may be used by anyone regardless of gender identity or expression. If you would like more information about all-gender housing and bathrooms, or any other Haverford policies that may differentially impact students based on their gender identity or expression, please visit the GRASE Center page for on-campus Trans* resources.

Prohibited from College Residences

• hot-plates, toaster ovens, wax melters, and any appliane with an exposed coil
• refrigerators larger than 4 cubic feet
• candles
• space heaters
• electrical appliances that can easily overload the electrical system or are known fire hazards, this includes pressure cookers

Our residence halls are not designed to handle high-wattage appliances. Only safe low-wattage appliances may be used in College housing.

Students are also prohibited from having any fur-bearing animals in the residence halls. It is a good idea to leave your pets at home; however, if you must have a pet, you are permitted to have fish, birds, and small reptiles as long as roommates and/or suitemates do not object and you accept the responsibility to clean up after the pet. Keep in mind that you will be very busy throughout the year and that it will be a burden to take care of a pet. Policies concerning animals needed by those with disabilities can be obtained by contacting the Office of Residential Life or Access & Disability Services.

Review the Campus Safety Policies in the Residential Life Handbook for a full listing of items prohibited from the College residence halls.

Satellite dishes are not permitted in or around any of the residence halls, including HCA.

Once on campus, each new student is issued a OneCard that gives them access to the residence halls. Students are expected to accept and to carry this card for all four years. Students have 24/7 access to the residence hall they have been assigned to live in a number of other spaces on campus like the Library and Dining Center. Each student is issued an individual room key. Students are expected to pick up their key, and to lock their doors. Each room key is marked with a unique identification number, and each student is responsible for the particular room key assigned to them until it is returned to Residential Life. This key opens only that student’s room. For those living in a suite or apartment, it will also open the door to the suite or apartment, but not the door to your suitemates’ rooms.

Students are encouraged to bring pictures, posters, and other decorations to personalize their dorm rooms.

Only certain items are permitted to be used to attach items to the walls and doors in the residence halls. Review the Residential Life Handbook for more information about “Room Decorations, Painting, and Wall Hangings."

The room must be returned to its original state by the end of the year. Any costs involved in the restoration of these areas or furnishings to their original condition will be billed to the student.

No, first-year students may not have a car on campus. During the New Student Check-In process you will be asked to sign a statement verifying that you will not bring a car to campus.

Yes. Students bringing bicycles to school may register them, free of charge, with Campus Safety through this form. Students are responsible for providing their own bike lock and are reminded that they should always lock their bike. There are a number of bicycle sheds and "ribbon" bike racks located throughout the campus.

Yes. There is a TD Bank ATM on the ground floor of the Whitehead Campus Center.

Some of the near-by banks include:

• Within a 10-15 minute walk from campus (these are the closest ones): TD Bank, Wells Fargo Bank, Chase Bank, Citizens Bank, ESSA Bank & Trust
• 15-20 minute walk: WSFS Bank, Bryn Mawr Trust
• 20-30 minute walk: Firstrust Bank, Santander Bank, Truist, Bank of America
• More than a 30 minute walk, but 10 minute car ride: Republic Bank, PNC Bank

Facilities maintains the physical environment of each dorm. If there's something that needs to be fixed or addressed in your room or building, like a burned out bulb, squeaky door, missing desk chair, broken shower, or anything else that needs attention, please fill out a Maintenance Request Form.

Per the policy in the Handbook, furniture cannot and should not be moved from bedrooms, common rooms, or suites. Questions regarding moving furniture should be directed to Facilities.

Please contact jcastreg [at] haverford.edu (John Castrege) in Campus Safety. He’ll be able to help you or direct you to the proper resource!

The Smoking Policy prohibits smoking in all College buildings and vehicles, and includes a 25-foot smoke-free perimeter around buildings, athletic events, and courtyards/patios/bus stops. No one may smoke inside any such building, and smokers should take care not to cause others discomfort when smoking too close to an entrance of such a building.