Housing
Eastman's Student Living Center and Cominsky Tower provides a practical and convenient residence for our students. Undergraduates are required to live in the facility for their first three years of study. In the freshman year, undergraduates share rooms; after that, students live in single rooms. An annual lottery gives students the opportunity to choose their room location for the next year. Storage facilities are available to students during the summer and at other times that the building is closed. A small number of rooms are reserved for graduate students. However, most graduate students find apartments close to the School; rental housing is abundant and rents are reasonable. The Student Life Office at Eastman maintains an apartment book with information on local housing. This information also can be found on our Housing Database website.
The Student Living Center itself is a four-story quadrangle and 16-story tower surrounding a landscaped inner courtyard. The ground floor of the center contains the Dining Center and the Orchestra Pit snack bar. The Dining Center is equipped to provide meals that satisfy a number of special diets. In addition, the SLC also houses the Student Life Office and a satellite office of University Health Services. The first floor also houses a 24-hour accessible computing center. Rochester's Metro YMCA is adjacent to the Student Living Center; the Rochester Athletic Club is two blocks away. Both of these athletic facilities have student rates and are used by Eastman students.
Student living areas within the dorm include a 14-story tower and six smaller, individual "houses." Housing options include all-female, all-male, co-ed, quiet houses, and those affiliated with the School's fraternities. Each house contains a short corridor with rooms on each side, a living room and balcony with lounge furniture, and bathrooms. They are accessible only to residents of that house and their guests by ID or key. This arrangement gives students a smaller community of peers within the larger Eastman community, and supports greater privacy and security.
The Louis P. Ciminelli Formal Lounge, located on the ground floor of the Student Living Center, is used regularly by Eastman students, faculty, and visiting scholars for recitals, master classes, lectures, and special events. The lounge, noted for its elegant furnishings, features a grand piano, superior acoustics, an adjacent green room, and self-service recording equipment. It is a popular place for non-degree recitals given at students' own initiative, and is the location of choice for auditions held by summer music programs.
A large, multi-purpose Recreation Area is found in the basement of the center. It has a large game room, vending machine area, kitchen and dining space, and a viewing lounge with a large-screen television and VCR. A Reed Room and laundry facility is also located in the basement.