They’re fondly (or sometimes rather not fondly) known as the Units, and they are filled with bugs, cockroaches and ants. Sometimes they are even called a “hellhole”. But it’s still home, my home. It is the Green and Gold Village, the largest, and according to me, the best freshman dorm on campus. This is widely debatable, but hear me out.
Let’s start off with the name itself — Green and Gold. The phrase means a lot to College of William and Mary students, because those are Tribe colors. Those are your Tribe’s colors. Regardless of where you go in the world, the Green and Gold will continue to remain an intricate part of you. Let’s compare it to a dorm like Botetourt. What kind of a name is Botetourt? It’s not even “Bote-tourt”, which sounds French; it’s “Bot-e-tot”!
Regardless of where you go in the world, the Green and Gold will continue to remain an intricate part of you.
George Bernard Shaw correctly stated, “There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” And that’s especially true to the average college student — food is life. And when you want to eat, where do you go? To the cafeteria. Commons Dining Hall, where you can find all sorts of goodies like cookies and brownies or the Caf, is not more than two minutes away from GGV.
Once you’ve finished downing those delicious chocolate chip cookies and you now want to burn off those calories, where do you go? To the Rec, which, once again, is not more than two minutes from GGV. You might say that the Rec and the Caf are all well and good, but academics are far more important. Guess what? GGV is not too far from your classes. Earl Gregg Swem Library, Adair Hall, Morton Hall and William H. Small Hall are all very close. Also, I’d rather live in GGV than in, say, Monroe Hall — imagine trying to head back to Monroe from the Rec after an hour-long lower body workout. I’m sure your legs would simply give up under you.
During orientation there was a particular dorm that had a very popular chant. “We’ve got AC.” Guess what, Yates? Now that winter is coming, not only is that dorm chant worthless, but also, more importantly, the AC is gone — it’s a thing of the past, and I’m sure you no longer remember it.
There was another chant at orientation — “We’ve got Tribe Pride, yes we do, we’ve got Tribe Pride, how ‘bout you?” And the opposite dorm, or the opposite team if you will, say Taliaferro, will chant the same cheer back to you. Then both dorms will each boast that “they’ve got more.” When both dorms chant it together…who’ll be louder? That’s correct, it’ll be the Green and Gold Village, because we are the largest freshman dorm on campus. Size matters.
Most importantly, GGV is home. We’ve bonded together as a family. President Reveley pointed out at orientation that 66 percent of all freshmen would feel homesick, while only 34 percent would not. The Green and Gold Village falls under the 34 percent who’ve found home here at the College. We’ve cheered on our athletes (who also happen to be our dorm mates) at their soccer games, we’ve celebrated dorm mates’ birthdays at the Cheese Shop, we go for dinner together, and we’ve even created our own intramural soccer teams. Simply put, GGV embodies “One Tribe, One Family.”
Most importantly, GGV is home. We’ve bonded together as a family.
The Green and Gold Village brings energy, passion and charisma. I remember reading on the William and Mary Class of 2020 Facebook page, “The Green and Gold Village is gonna be lit.” ‘Lit’ it has been, and ‘lit’ it will be for the rest of the year. Because who are we? GGV.
Email Varun Desai at vdesai@email.wm.edu
