Ross Commons at Middlebury College

Named for Eleanor Ross, Middlebury College’s dean of women for much of the early twentieth century, Ross Commons is one of Middlebury’s five residential colleges. Middlebury is the first liberal arts college in the United States to establish a system of smaller residential colleges, here called Commons, within itself. The buildings of Ross Commons include the Kelly Hall–Hadley Hall–Lang Hall–Milliken Hall complex (1971), the 1997 Ridgeline Houses (Brackett, Brooker, Palmer, and Prescott), LaForce Hall (2002), and the Ross Commons Dining Hall (2002). For more information about this decentralized residential college arrangement please visit The Collegiate Way: Residential Colleges and Higher Education Reform. A collection of photos of Atwater Commons is also available.

The Ross Commons dining hall at Middlebury College, completed in 2002. View from the northwest. Photo by R.J. O’Hara.

The Ross Commons courtyard (left) seen from the dining hall entrance. A section of the Ross Commons dining hall (right), looking to the west. Photos by R.J. O’Hara.

Scenes in red and white (the Ross Commons colors) from the Ross fall festival, 2002. Photos by R.J. O’Hara.

The Ross Commons dining hall at Middlebury College, with LaForce Hall behind. View from the northwest. Photo by R.J. O’Hara.