Subject: [CPW 2019] Prefrosh Host Application Is Now Live!

From: Timothy A Gutterman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 7 Feb 2019 04:02:11 +0000

Howdy, denizens of MIT.

It's everyone's favorite time of the year again—in just a few short months, the Institute will open its doors to the Class of 2023 (can you believe it?!) for this year's Campus Preview Weekend.

Of course, in between all the free food, wacky events, and the uncountably infinite number of boilerplate conversations (hi, what's your name, what state are you from, wow, you're Course 6 too, what a coincidence!), these bright-eyed prefrosh are going to need somewhere to sleep. This is where the help of undergraduate hosts comes in.

Without further ado, we are pleased to announce that the application for hosting a prefrosh is now live, and can be accessed here<https://community.mitcpw.org/?page_id=13>. Undergrads serving as hosts for prefrosh play an invaluable role in ensuring that as many newly adMITted students as possible can come and truly get to know what the community at MIT is like for the first time. Many of us look back fondly on our own CPW experience; whether this is the case for you or not, though, with your help we can truly make these three days something special for the next generation of thinkers and doers here at MIT. Please, apply today to help make this a reality!

IMPORTANT NOTICE—This year, we are strongly encouraging female students to apply. In years past, a shortage of female hosts has led to many instances of multiple female prefrosh being matched with a single host. In an effort to make this the best CPW to date, we'd like to reduce the number of situations like this, so if you are a female student who is on the fence about hosting, we urge you to apply today.

Additionally, this year we are excited to debut our new air mattress lending program! One of the chief reasons students decide not to host is that they feel there is nowhere in their room for prefrosh to sleep—this program is one way we are trying to alleviate that problem. We are currently in the process of collecting mattresses to lend out in April; if you have an extra air mattress or sleeping bag, we ask you to consider lending it using this form<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QnGAGaiidhbKkzbjHykZZScUG3Dbq6dV5sqGX4ADNVo/edit>. And if you are in need of an air mattress and can find no alternative for your prefrosh, drop us a line at the email listed below. Thank you!

Still not sure whether you should host a prefrosh, or have a question? Please read through this list of Frequently Asked Questions, so that we may alleviate some common concerns members of the MIT community have voiced about hosting during CPW. And if you have any other questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to shoot us an email at dormcon-rex-chairs.mit.edu, and we will do our best to help you out :)

FAQ

What if I have too much work during CPW to host a prefrosh?

Starting last year and for every year from now on, CPW will be Patriots’ Day weekend, and there will be no classes Monday and Tuesday. This is a change implemented by administration to give students a chance to recover from CPW. Additionally, Vice Chancellor Ian Waitz has asked professors (well in advance) to make sure to plan their syllabi so that no assignments are due during the Thursday or Friday of CPW. Lastly, if you are really stressed about your academic commitments, please talk to S^3 -- we’ve asked them specifically to be considerate of students coming to them with CPW-related concerns.

What if I don’t really want to hang out with “my” prefrosh that much? What if I don’t like them?

You are absolutely not required to hang out, chat with, or show around your prefrosh at all (even if they would like it). Sure, it might be nice for them, but ultimately, your job is to let them into your room so that they have a place to sleep. We don’t ask for any more from you.

What if my room is too messy?

If your room is seriously messy (health-hazard levels, perhaps :P), it would probably be better for you to clean it. If there’s just some stuff on the floor, don’t worry about it. Prefrosh would rather sleep on a messy floor than have nowhere to sleep at all.

What if I don’t have anywhere for them to sleep?

Like we said above, better a floor than nowhere else. We tell prefrosh to bring sleeping bags for this very reason, so if you don’t have anything else, don’t worry about it! With that said, we’re also debuting an air mattress lending program, which would allow you to borrow a mattress from someone else in your dorm for the duration of CPW. If you would only be able to host a prefrosh with the help of this program, please contact us at the email above :)

I’m LGBTQ and I’m worried that my prefrosh won’t be comfortable with it.

Admissions (who assigns hosts) is really, really careful that only LGBTQ-friendly prefrosh get paired with LGBTQ hosts (and vice versa!). There is a space on the hosting form for you (and prefrosh) to write about your gender and sexuality, and we ask each prefrosh to say how comfortable they would be living with someone of a different sexuality than they are. You will never be paired with someone who indicated that they’re not comfortable with your identity.

How do I pre-arrange to host a prefrosh I already know?

This is an option on the form! You and your prefrosh will both have to confirm that you’re okay with it. Please do note: when we match hosts, we’re very careful of things like cat or smoking allergies, and we also try to match for sleeping habits and interests. If you pre-arrange with a prefrosh, all that is on you: make sure that it will be safe for them to live with you!

What if my prefrosh does something bad to my stuff, like wrecks it or steals is?

Well, firstly, they would get so rescinded. Secondly, this hasn’t happened so far in the history of CPW! Thirdly, tbh, in the (very) unlikely event that your prefrosh intentionally takes or breaks your stuff, Admissions will probably replace it.

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From: Timothy A Gutterman <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2019 05:48:07 +0000

Bump! Keep signing up guys, and thank you to everyone who has filled out the application so far.

Clarification: The mattress lending form is for people who are donating mattresses. If you need to be lent a mattress, we will be sending out a separate form after CPW hosting registration closes (March 23rd). Thank you guys for your patience!
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From: Timothy A Gutterman
Sent: Wednesday, February 06, 2019 11:02 PM
Subject: [CPW 2019] Prefrosh Host Application Is Now Live!

Howdy, denizens of MIT.

FAQ

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