Balch Hall is open only to female freshman and is divided into sections, known as units, each with a Residential Advisor who helps the new students acclimate themselves with the campus.
According to legend, Janet Balch insisted that her husband donate the money for the dormitory after attending an event at Allen's fraternity, Alpha Delta Phi.
[2] The building was intended to provide "gracious living" and to "exemplify the highest traditions of American Womanhood," according to then-president Livingston Farrand.
[2] Each of the four halls were decorated differently in "Early American, Georgian, English Jacobean, and modern Gramercy Park".
The social rules around clothing and became more relaxed, maid and laundry service ended, and the lavish, expensive furnishings were replaced with standard dorm furniture.
[12] Ruth Bader Ginsburg lived in Balch Hall during her sophomore and senior years as an undergraduate member of the class of 1954.