The Northeast Dorm Area at UMass Amherst

The Northeast Area of UMass Amherst is located adjacent to the Worcester Dining Hall and between the Central and Sylvan areas. Northeast is known to attract a diverse crowd of dorm dwellers. The area is very close to all of the Engineering and Math buildings and so there are also many Engineering and Math majors living in this area.

The physical layout of Northeast is nine buildings built around a grassy area known as 'the quad'. Three of these buildings (Johnson, Lewis, and Thatcher) are located on top of a hill overlooking the quad. The quad is an area known to attract students for sporting events or to study on the grass on a sunny day. The Capture the Flag club also meets weekly for a game here.

JOHNSON, THATCHER, LEWIS

Known as 'Upper Northeast", these buildings are located on a small hill overlooking the rest of Northeast. Lewis is one of the international dorms on campus, meaning that many students from abroad are housed there. Because of this, Lewis is one of the 9-month halls, meaning students can choose to stay there during breaks. The first year residents of Lewis are required to take an international learning course, which takes place once a week in the Lewis Basement. The community in Lewis is always very diverse. Thatcher hall is located adjacent to Lewis, and is where the foreign language programs are located. Each floor has a different foreign language associated with it, and residents of those floors are expected to speak that language while they are there.

HAMLIN AND KNOWLTON

Hamlin and Knowlton are the only single sex dorms on campus. They are located next to each other, separated by an old dorm that has been converted into classrooms. Hamlin is the all male building, and Knowlton is the all female building. These two dorms are located along the main road, North Pleasant Street.

LEACH, CRABTREE, DWIGHT, MARY LYON

Each houses an engineering program where engineering students that wish to live together do so. Both Leach and Crabtree have a reputation of being more like the other areas of campus than the other buildings in Northeast. Dwight Hall is located at the far end of Northeast, near the Totman gym. It houses the Asian Community floor and because of this, it is home to many Asian American Students. Mary Lyon is the building closest to the Worcester Dining Hall and it holds the '2 in 20' floor. This is where gay, lesbian, and transgender students can live together if they choose to.