The unexpected delights at Prospect of Whitby
By Kelly Kuehn, Student & Campus Life
It was a frigid January morning when Sofya Maslova ’24 stepped onto the porch of the Prospect of Whitby co-op with her belongings. She was starting her second semester at Cornell after transferring from Hunter College in Manhattan during the Fall ’21 semester, and while her experience in Cascadilla Hall on South Campus was great, she knew she wanted to be in a co-op after moseying and learning more about the setup.
Amid the thrills and chills of moving in the middle of an Ithaca winter, she stopped in the kitchen for breakfast—and found an unexpected delight.
“I remember opening the fridge and being so happy that we had oat milk,” Maslova says. “It’s more of a niche milk option, and you often have to pay extra for it at cafes, and here we had six rows of oat milk, and I was like ‘This is perfect.’ “
Maslova poured some cereal and sat down in Whitby’s living room, gazing at the items that decorated its light blue walls; pictures of smiling house members; colorful pieces of art welcoming open eyes and minds; quirky trinkets adding character to the space.
It was in that living room, surrounded by these unexpected delights, that Maslova realized she had found her “home” at Cornell.
Fast-forward nearly two years later to the Fall ’23 semester. Maslova is now Co-President of Prospect of Whitby alongside Jade Melendez ’25, who also wanted something different from her previous residential experience. She was looking for a place with a great community but was also within her budget. After Moseying, she knew Whitby fit the bill.
Melendez moved into Whitby on a scorching August day before the Fall ’22 semester with her bags and mixed feelings of excitement and nervousness. Those feelings were calmed with the help of Whitby’s members; they helped her with her luggage and, in true Whitby fashion, treated her to her own unexpected delight: Delicious honey biscuits.
“It felt already like I was incorporated into the house, even though it was my first day being there,” Melendez says.
As Co-Presidents, Melendez and Maslova, along with Whitby’s Treasurer, House Managers and Food Stewards, oversee all house operations. But it’s all of Whitby’s members who ensure its inclusive spirit is felt each day. One of those members is Shehryar Qazi ’23, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences who moved from Pakistan to the United States at age 15. He had a difficult time adjusting to America and making new connections—a feeling that lingered through his first year at Cornell, which was online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was desperately, I think, craving meeting other people,” Qazi says.
He learned about Whitby during the Fall ’21 Club Fest event and applied for residency after talking to friends who had wonderful experiences in the co-op. He moved in for the Spring ’22 semester on that same frigid January day Maslova did—but the chilly temperature didn’t overshadow Whitby’s warmth.
“I felt happy and excited,” Qazi says. “One of the other people who moved here at the same time, Sofya, also came down and we had a nice chat.”
As more Whitby members arrived that day, Qazi found his own unexpected delight: A community where he belonged.
Prospect of Whitby’s Influence on Students
That’s a common theme in Prospect of Whitby: The delivery of unexpected delights, both big and small. Whitby has shared those delights with Cornellians since its founding at 228 Wait Avenue, the former house of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority, in 1965. According to Whitby’s website, the co-op was a space for conversation and ideas, as well as a place where visitors found friendly faces.
Generations of Cornell students have graced the halls of Whitby, and today, it’s home to 20 welcoming members.
“People want you to live there, and they make it very apparent,” Melendez says. “As soon as you come in, it’s kind of like the slow trail to becoming best friends.”
Those connections are fostered through several activities, including house dinners and social events. Members are also responsible for the house’s upkeep and divide up chores.
These activities allow members to contribute a little piece of themselves to the co-op. There’s evidence of this all around the house—photos of past Whitby members cutting loose on the house’s walls. Lively member journals from the ‘80s and ‘90s that Qazi is now digitizing. Even labeling the spice shelf, which Qazi also did, adds to the fabric of the Whitby community.
Communal Living at Whitby: Sustainability Meets Accessibility
Another unexpected delight of Whitby is its communal living element, which intrigued Maslova most about the space.
“Living in a group of 19 or 20 people, all sharing the same bathrooms and kitchens, and all cooking meals together for each other—it made so much sense to me,” Maslova says of the environmental and sustainability benefits.
That shared accessibility to housing and meals can make a drastic difference, especially in a time where many college students face food security issues. Whitby’s vegetarian house meal plan, prepared by house members, can give Cornellians reliable, nutritious meals each day.
Whitby also provides essential housing resources, including single and double rooms with beds and desks, shared bathrooms, a large shared kitchen, laundry facilities and internet access. The house also boasts a lovely front porch and bike storage in the basement.
When combined, all these unexpected delights create a positive space that makes a powerful difference in students’ experiences at Cornell. It’s a place where cherished memories are made while playing an out-of-tune piano. It’s a place where strangers turn into family at the dinner table. And, it’s a space where you’re encouraged to look at where you’ve been, and where you can go, in life.
“It’s helped me push myself as a person and grow in ways that I didn’t see myself doing,” Qazi says.
What unexpected delight waits for you at Prospect of Whitby or one of Cornell’s other cooperative living spaces? Learn more about co-op living by attending the next Co-Op Mosey on Sunday, Feb. 11 or emailing co-ops@cornell.edu.