Annex Given $500,000 for Needed Dorm

A anonymous gift of $500,000 has completed the financing for a projected Radcliffe dormitory that will permit the college to provide housing for every student who desires it, President Wilbur K. Jordan announced yesterday.

The dormitory, which will be located on the site of the tennis courts behind Moors Hall, will house approximately 110 students. The college expects the building, which will be called Ada Louise Comstock Hall, to be ready for ocupancy by the fall of 1958.

Another $470,000 anonymous gift received last spring will supplement the new donation.

Comstock Hall will solve the housing problem of students in the Greater Boston area. "The new dormitory will mean that any local girl who wishes to live here may do so," Jordan said.

While 95 per cent of the applicants for admissions wanted to live at the college this year, Radcliffe could provide housing for only 85 per cent of those admitted. With the completion of the Hall 90 percent of the students will be given dormitory space.

Emphasizing that the college does not intend to become entirely residential, Jordan said, "We regard it as healthy and proper to have a considerable number of commuters." It is expected that the commuting population, including married students, will constitute about 10 per cent of the college.

A long-range residence plan calls for the construction of one additional dormitory and a permanent cooperative house after Comstock Hall is built. These units will not increase the total number of residence students, but will permit the college to abandon some of its less desirable off-campus houses.