Dorm 101: What freshmen can take to college this fall

When University of Memphis officials say you can bring a 20-gallon fish tank to your dorm, they mean you can put fish in it, but not any other living creature.

It’s a fine point, but one that needs to be clear as high school graduates try to decide what they’ll need to live on a college campus.

Candles? Not allowed. Computer? It’s up to you. Alarm clock? Only if you want to get to your class on time.

For many freshmen, the dorm will be the first experience of living in a world where toilet paper doesn’t magically appear on a roller and dirty clothes just turn up clean and folded on the bed. It might be the first time for some students to share space.

“Most kids have their own bedrooms at home and aren’t used to living with a roommate,” said Danny Armitage, associate dean of students at University of Memphis.

“There’s a lot of value in the dorm experience, because this could easily be the most diverse community …” Armitage said.

And that means knowing what to bring into these close-knit living quarters.

“The least amount possible,” is the advice of Becky Lloyd, a Memphis resident who has moved and re-moved four daughters from dorms in the past seven years.

“You go there with a Suburban full of stuff, and you come home with three Suburbans full,” she said.

She hasn’t purchased a mini-refrigerator or a microwave because typically the roommates bring them anyway.

Nor did Lloyd buy her girls personal computers to take to the dorms, because most campuses have plenty of computers in their libraries or labs.

The schools usually give roommates contact information weeks prior to move-in day so the roommates can decide if they want to buy matching comforters or divvy up who will bring the appliances.

Mississippi State furnishes each room with a “micro-fridge,” a combination microwave oven and mini-refrigerator.

The good news is that if a student forgets bed linens or towels or needs more shelving or storage equipment, most local retailers near universities stock up on those items near move-in time.

“Many of them keep it year-round,” Armitage said.

Some guidelines from Kansas University’s Department of Student Housing Handbook:¢ Excessive amounts of burnable material should not be kept in resident rooms.¢ Construction, decoration, or arrangement of furnishings in a manner that hinders easy exit from a room is not permitted. No obstacle should prevent a door from completely opening.¢ Decorative items and other paraphernalia such as cloth, fish netting, paper, parachutes, or any other highly combustible material may not be hung from the ceiling or from other overhead room structures.¢ Open-flame decorations (i.e. candles, oil lamps and incense) are prohibited.¢ Dry erase boards/white boards should be hung on the room door. Do not hang them on surrounding walls, as they will cause significant damage.¢ Nails should not be driven into the walls or furniture. Residents may hang room decorations from molding strips.See more residence hall guidelines at www.ku.edu/~dshweb/reshalls.html.