The Evolution of the College Dorm

Old Meets New
The cinder-block dorms of the 1950s were ill-equipped to handle the computer revolution of the 1980s. Re-wiring buildings became an expensive and drawn-out task, as did equipping their residents. Of today's college students, writer Nicholas Carr says, "Facebook is the dorm; Wikipedia is the library; and Craigslist is the mall." Here, a freshman at Drexel University shows off a gift from her alma mater; in 1985, the school issued each incoming student a new Microsoft computer. In 2004, Duke University spent half a million to greet its freshmen with iPods. Many schools now require students to purchase computers or laptops before the school year begins.

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