Description of the Bi-Co

Homework for Workshop 1, part 2

Nestled near King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, two neighboring towns boast small but prestigious colleges that share names with their surrounding towns. Haverford College spreads out across large expanses of landscaped grass breaking up small, nondescript buildings. A large duck pond greets visitors traveling by car. Its students crowd together on co-ed floors in most of the dorms. Its girls, generally, are outspoken and opinionated. Its boys are quieter, more reserved. Bryn Mawr College crams stone buildings in the Gothic style, several boasting turrets with ramparts, over a comparatively small amount of land, which is bursting with cherry trees and crocuses in the spring. Although the walk forced upon the residents of the furthest dorm, Brecon, is near-legendary among the students, it’s no more than a twenty-minute trip between opposite diagonals. A smaller duck pond hides behind the winter break housing dorm. Its students are, by and large, radicals, taking it upon themselves to dismantle cultural norms around gender, sex, art, economics, and politics while presenting visitors to Admissions with a clean, good-girls image. The two colleges are closely intertwined, sharing the same start and end dates, exam periods, breaks, and even registration system, which is known as BIONIC and hated by one and all. Students from each college regularly attend the other’s classes and events and participate in bi-college student organizations. Geekery is celebrated in the Bi-Co, and though the colleges have separate sci-fi clubs, Doublestar and Nerd House often coordinate large activities. Together, bi-co students bemoan the weather (hot and humid through the first weeks of September, and freezing in mid-winter), compare dining hall food (Bryn Mawr’s is agreed to be better, except in the case of Haverford’s weekend brunch), and wear a large amount of college merchandise. Trips to the respective towns are common for refills of things like shampoo or just to get off campus for a bit, but the towns are small and don’t even boast a Dollar store, so students go into Philadelphia, a half-hour train ride away, for sophisticated shopping and opportunities to see excellent theatre.