About Us

Daily Life

 

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    Stephenson houses 50 men, who live paired with another Lyleman in a single room (first year residents are usually paired potluck, older residents choose roommates, with the option to switch rooms at the beginning of Spring semester).  Like all other scholarship hall inhabitants, residents pay around $1,600 less than in a regular University of Kansas Residence Hall.  For this privilege, students do regular work shifts, which range from cooking meals to cleaning restrooms.  An older resident (called a "Proctor") is earmarked late in the previous year to enforce and assign these shifts.

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The Building

    Stephenson contains four floors.  In the basement level, there is an expansive kitchen, pantry, dining area, and lounge.  As of 2008 the lounge boasts a brand new 61" HDTV with a full 5.1 surround sound system built by several Lylemen, as well as a pool table and Ping Pong table.  A door leads out from this floor to the back yard, which contains a basketball court and a concrete staircase leading to the parking lot.  This parking lot overflows on Fridays and Saturdays with individuals illegally parking there to gain access to The Hawk and The Wheel, two popular night spots.

    The ground level contains a living room complete with a grand piano, a bookshelf containing a variety of odd books, and trophy cases, which house the many memberships of "Wilbur Q. Nether" (a "fictional" resident, although some claim otherwise) and various trophies, either earned, bought, or "acquired".  Also on this level is the Scholarship Hall Director's (SHD) room, mail room, a work office for maintenance staff, two restrooms (one for residents and one for guests), and three resident rooms.  This is one of the quietest floors in Stephenson, and the unisex restroom in the lobby is cleaned by the maintenance staff, not by the residents.

    The second and third levels contain nothing but resident rooms, with a communal bathroom on each floor.  The bathrooms each have three sinks, two urinals, three bathroom stalls, and three showers. The proctor historically lives on second floor in a room by himself, and is the only resident (other than the Hall Director) to not have a roommate.

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Traditions

    Traditions have historically been a large part of Stephenson Hall life and define it as unique in the scholarship hall community.  However, as times change some of the hall's traditions have been retired.  Here are a list of older traditions as well as some newer replacements that are ongoing:

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​    Superhero Party:

          A relatively new tradition at Stephenson, the Superhero Party is held early in the spring semester.  It features elaborate decorating of the hall (both the basement and ground floors), hand-picked song lists (played through the above-mentioned surround sound system), and a competition for best costumes.  Occasionally, it is even attended by creatures known as "females".
       

    Stephenson Hall Intramural Team T-shirts:

          Affectionately known as "S.H.I.T." shirts, these t-shirts are often seen around the hall and are the uniform of the hall's intramural sports teams.
       

    Oldmen/Newmen Football Game:

          Traditionally held on Stop Day of the fall semester, the Oldmen/Newmen football game is a tackle football game played without pads. The Oldmen team is composed of all individuals who have lived in Stephenson for at least two semesters. The Newmen team is composed of freshmen and sometimes the Hall Director. The game is completely optional, but is always fun even for the non-sports type.