#gillett

Gillett Milling I

Canon FT-QL

Kodak Gold 200

A lot of people hate it when companies make good commercials that support a cause, whether it be a minority, a protest, or a call for action. This is because they think that the company is only doing so to get the support and approval from minorities and activists as well as out their company name in good light.

This is true. But it's not BAD.

We all know that commercials are made to sell products and promote businesses. If they happen to support a cause in the process, that's a GOOD thing. It desensitizes people to the things they find strange. If you see more gay couples in ads, it normalizes it. If you see black lives matter material in an ad, it spreads the message. If you see destructive behavior being called out in an ad, it starts a conversation.

Gilllett House // Upper Elm Street by Emi Lee ‘16, Gillett House President 2015-16

Gillett House is conveniently located on Elm Street across from the PVTA bus stop. It is nice in the cold weather to be able to wait inside for a bus. We are a 5-10 minute walk away from almost everything: classes, downtown Northampton, the quad, you name it! If you didn’t already know, Gillett House was the first dining hall on campus to go completely vegan/vegetarian, but that doesn’t mean all residents are all meat-free. Lamont and Chase/Duckett’s dining halls are right next door to us and provide a variety of meal options for all dietary needs. On those nights that the dining hall food just doesn’t cut it, fear not, because we have a full kitchen in the basement of the house!

Regardless of where your food is coming from, many Gilletties eat together in the living room and beau parlor for all lunches and dinners. Outside of mealtimes, these spaces (including the dining hall) are used for studying, house activities, and hanging out. It is not uncommon for residents to eat lunch in the living room and stay there until dinner and beyond. The living room is definitely the hub of the house where you can almost always find someone to chat with whether that be a housemate, Darlene (our housekeeper), or one of our many beloved dining staff.  One thing I love about Gillett house community is that there is always a good time to be had!

Smith has a lot of fun traditions that each house has their own way of celebrating (see below for how we celebrate some of them). Aside from Smith traditions, I would like to quickly highlight some special Gillett House traditions! My favorite event of the year is our annual Cultural Cookout, where housemates volunteer to make a dish that is important to them to share with the house. Cultural Cookout brings housemates together through food and allows people to try things they may never had imagined eating. Another Gillett House tradition is to have the first campus party of the school year. This is always an exciting event, because everyone on campus is so ready to party!

Some of our traditions:

-Mountain Day - Every year housemates go apple-picking in the morning, picnic by Paradise Pond for lunch, and go for a hike in the afternoon. Some people will opt out of the hike in the afternoon and bake the apples from the morning into a delicious dessert for dinner.

-Big sib/Lil sib - During the first couple of weeks of the school year, first years will receive anonymous presents for one week and find out who their big sib in the house is during our “reveal-tea.” This event is a great way to build our house’s community.

-House tea - Every week on Fridays the dining staff prepares snacks for tea in the living room. We often have guest speakers come to our tea to tell us about resources on campus. When we do not have a speaker this is a fun time to have lovely conversation with our housemates.

-Winter weekend - In the first weekend of December, the house holds a formal event where we have a cappella entertainment and lots of yummy treats to eat while mingling.

-Spring weekend - This is our annual semi-formal event where we have more yummy treats and a talent-no-talent show.

-Senior Banquet - Always themed, Senior Banquet is when we honor our graduating seniors and present them with acrostic poems, prophecies, and meaningful gifts. This is also a sentimental time for seniors to present wills to underclass-people.