Barnhart said that the data, particularly the low graduation rates, spurred the turnaround initiative, but not the decision to oust residents from the dorm for good. Pilot 2021—whose founding principles are career exploration, wellness, and food—effectively serves as a stopgap that the administration hopes will eventually evolve into a new community with its own unique culture. In other words, something like Senior House sans the academic struggles and drugs.

The move has proven controversial within the MIT community. Senior House supporters staged a sleep-in outside the president’s office to protest the decision. The MIT subreddit exploded with posts lamenting the news, with one thread describing itself as a “eulogy.” At SaveSeniorHouse.mit.edu, visitors can learn more about the dorm’s history, the administration’s “transgressions,” and upcoming events; the website even has a “press kit” tab where interested journalists can peruse previous press coverage.

The outrage is hardly surprising: For decades, Senior House was a hub of counter-culture on a campus whose students are often stereotyped as being antisocial and work-obsessed—a school where the median family income is $137,400 and where nearly a third of attendees come from the top 5 percent of Americans in terms of wealth. Senior House was known for housing many low-income, first-generation, and non-white students. Additionally, 40 percent of the Senior House community identified as LGBT, according to university data from the 2015-16 school year. Studies have shown that low-income students are less likely to graduate from college on time, and drug usage in general is also higher among the LGBT population than it is among those who don’t identify as LGBT.

The community, according to those who have lived in the building, was monumental in shaping and enhancing their college experiences. Charisse L’Pree, who graduated from MIT in 2003 and is now an assistant professor at Syracuse University, spoke fondly of Senior House’s work-hard, play-hard mentality, and said her fellow residents were incredibly supportive throughout difficult times in her life. An incoming freshman who had hoped to live in Senior House said the dorm’s diversity and dedication to individuality were especially compelling. To Abraham Quintero, who received his bachelor’s degree from MIT in the spring and lived in Senior House during the turnaround process, the community exemplified the precise values that the university purports to promote. That, he said, made the decision to alter the building all the more devastating.

“I think MIT carries a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they promote having this quirky culture full of interesting characters ... And then on the other hand, they are trying to stomp out the communities that matter most to these people,” Quintero said. “While MIT likes to advertise itself as the hacker culture and having all these hacks, at the same time, they’re waging war on the communities that are making those things happen and that are making MIT special.”