University of Dayton Ghetto - Features

Features

Not all of the houses in the student neighborhoods are occupied by students. Four houses in both the Ghetto and the Darkside — on Trinity Avenue, Kiefaber Street, Stonemill Road and Chambers Street — are home to groups of Marianists, the Catholic religious institute behind UD. Between six and 10 Marianists live in each house. They serve the university as ministers, groundskeepers, administrators and professors, among other professions.

The Ghetto also contains several high-density living areas, including the Garden Apartments, the Lawnview Apartments and the Campus South, a high-rise living complex for sophomores. In 2004, the ArtStreet complex opened, intended as a combined living-learning space. It includes housing for 56 students, as well as a cafe, an amphitheater, rehearsal rooms, several activity rooms and gallery spaces, and a new studio for the campus radio station, WUDR. The Ghetto is also home to the McGinnis school house, which was acquired in 1982 and renamed the McGinnis Center; it is used as a central point of contact for Ghetto residents. The McGinnis Center houses several meeting rooms, administrative offices and laundry facilities for houses that are not equipped with washers and dryers.

Some houses in the neighborhood have been given informal nicknames by which they are commonly known, such as "The Castle" at 1519 Frericks Way, the "Smallest Porch in the Ghetto" at 226 Kiefaber St. and "The Last Resort" at 229 Stonemill Road. For the majority of houses, nicknames are arbitrary and vary year to year. In addition, many houses in the Ghetto are those occupied by various fraternities, sororities and other special interest groups.