Alice Cook, Hans Bethe, Carl Becker, and William Keeton Houses are the first four of ultimately five houses in the West Campus House System. Alice Cook House, in addition to new student rooms and public spaces built in 2004, includes the Gothic buildings of Boldt Tower, Boldt Hall/Language House Program, North Baker Hall, and Baker Tower. Bethe House includes the Gothic building McFaddin Hall. Each of the West Campus houses accommodates approximately 350 undergraduate residents, and each has its own dining room, common areas, library, and guest suite, as well as rooms for computing, seminars, academic support, and socializing.

Most student residents occupy suites that have a living room and bathroom. Block booking allows students who formed friendships as first-year students living in north campus residence halls to reserve adjoining suites within the West Campus Houses. But the houses expose all student residents to new relationships and experiences. The environment is designed to foster interaction among faculty, students, and staff.

Students, faculty, and staff share house leadership with a distinguished Cornell professor who serves as House Professor and Dean and lives in the house with his or her family members. The Assistant Dean and Graduate Resident Fellows support each house and serve as mentors to the student residents. A house council composed of resident students governs the house and develops social, intellectual, athletic, and cultural programs and activities. Each house has thirty House Fellows, primarily faculty members, who are affiliated with each house interacting with student residents, often over meals at the house.

Each West Campus House is named for a legendary member of the university faculty, linking it to Cornell’s roots and traditions, yet the philosophy and atmosphere of each house is determined by its current residents. Bringing students, faculty, and visiting scholars together to create smaller, vibrant communities is at the heart of Cornell’s West Campus House System.