Nerd House wrapped up its first semester of programming of the year on Dec. 6 with its annual Board Game Pajama Night.
Students gathered in two common areas, one with a kitchen and one with a TV and couches. As at every event, students could choose from more than 200 board and card games in the house. Inside and around a sprawling blanket fort in the kitchen area, students played games, chatted and enjoyed snacks and drinks.
Located across the pedestrian bridge near the second Blue Bus stop, Nerd House was established at Yarnall Hall in 2013 with 13 original members. Today, approximately 15 members live in the house’s eight rooms.
Nerd House hosts substance-free events on Saturday nights from 8 p.m. to midnight, open to all Tri-Co students. This semester’s events included a Dungeons and Dragons night, a five-day Bi-Co-wide game of Humans vs. Zombies and a laser tag tournament in the Dining Center basement.
Haverford sophomore Madeleine Berkowitz joined Nerd House at a pivotal moment. “When room draw came around, I was considering dropping out, and it was really convenient because I knew people at Nerd House, and they were really friendly, and they encouraged me to apply,” Berkowitz said.
Berkowitz enjoys planning events, a process that begins before students arrive on campus in the fall. Members hold two meetings over the summer to brainstorm ideas and rank events by effort level and budget. A similar two meetings are held over winter break in preparation for the spring semester.
The fall semester typically features repeat events such as First Tinker, Laser Tag and Humans vs. Zombies, while the spring semester allows for more flexibility. Coordinators are assigned to each event, and planning meetings occur one or two weeks in advance. Members are expected to coordinate at least three and no more than five events per semester.
Budget requests for all events are due two weeks ahead of time. Funding sources have varied over time, and Berkowitz said the process has sometimes been unclear.
“Since we are a community house, not an affinity house, and we’re one of the more active community houses, we’re kind of an anomaly in terms of where our budget comes from,” Berkowitz said. “Currently, our budget comes from ResLife, and they’ve been very nice to us this year and very accommodating. We’re on pace to meet all of our budget goals this year.”
This semester, Berkowitz coordinated First Tinker, Nerds Find Poems and Suits and Suits. Berkowitz estimated that First Tinker drew around 100 attendees, making it the biggest event of the semester. “That was more than we ever expected, and that was chaotic,” she said.
Some events originated as substance-free alternatives to campus traditions, including First Tinker, which runs concurrently with the first Haverford party of the semester. Nerd House has also collaborated with Haverford College to host substance-free programming.
“We have an internal substance use policy, which is fairly strict this semester, and changes semesterly based on who’s in the house and what they’re comfortable with,” Berkowitz said.
Looking ahead, Berkowitz hopes to organize an event for Campus Pride Month in April and to collaborate with the Bryn Mawr Makerspace on a dice tower-building workshop. “We are definitely trying to have more outreach to Bryn Mawr because we are a Bi-Co organization,” she said.
Nerd House accepts both residential and non-residential members from Haverford and Bryn Mawr. Applications ask about roommate preferences, event ideas, responses to hypothetical scenarios and personal strengths relevant to event planning.
“We try to keep a balance of different interests. We leave the term ‘nerd’ undefined in terms of what it can encompass. People are nerds about all sorts of things,” Berkowitz said. “I put on my application that I’m a nerd about baseball, which is, I know, not a traditionally nerdy thing, but I’m a huge baseball fan and I enjoy nerding out about that.”
Members’ interests range widely, from card and deck-building games to reality TV. “To me, being a nerd just means being very passionate about something in a way that’s not always acceptable to talk about constantly in public, but we like to welcome that here,” Berkowitz said.
Berkowitz noted that students’ perceptions of Nerd House have shifted over time. “I’ve heard that in the past, people used to really look down on Nerd House and make fun of them. It seems these days that it’s a much better situation,” she said.
In addition to hosting weekly events, Nerd House is a 24/7 space for both Haverford and Bryn Mawr students. Students can text ahead on Discord or simply knock on the door to be let in.
“Our goal is that there’s always a substance-free space for people to come and explore their interests and play games,” Berkowitz said. “If there’s a party happening in your dorm and it’s too loud or making you uncomfortable, you can come crash in our beanbag.”
For more information on upcoming events and a link to join the Nerd House Discord server, students can visit https://hcnerdhouse.carrd.co/.
