The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate is advocating a popular issue
by pushing the administration to release housing lottery numbers earlier. In this case, Tufts should listen to the Senate, as the bureaucratic change would remove a burden from the shoulders of sophomores and juniors, for whom finding housing is as stressful as any academic challenge.
Just a few years ago, upperclassmen were drawn to off-campus apartments by the lure of independence and a comparable price tag to Tufts dorms. But urban sprawl having sprawled from Boston and Cambridge into Medford and Somerville, local rents are skyrocketing. Upperclassmen determined to live with their friends have no choice but to shore up off-campus housing in the fall, without knowing if they had a good enough lottery number to secure a suite in Hillsides or Latin Way. If students knew their numbers in the fall, there would be less competition for off-campus apartments and fortuitous numbers would play a decisive role in students' residential fate. As it stands, students who want to live together cannot gamble on the housing lottery, as a bad number would force them into an expensive, distant apartment.
Releasing the lottery numbers early would benefit upperclassmen who realize it's far more expensive to live off campus, which in addition to high rent, landlords, and heating bills, lacks high-speed Internet and proximity to classes. Students will spend the rest of their lives dealing with these adult complications - there's no cause to rush the experience. Yes, living off campus has a sense of adventure and is imbedded in the upperclassmen culture, but this culture was created at a time when rents were far more reasonable.
To compensate for the gradual migration of upperclassmen to campus, Tufts should make immediate adjustments, including building the proposed new dorm, which was heavily discussed last spring. The building should not match South Hall in its capacity, since high-occupancy dorms generally cater to younger students. In addition to increasing beds on campus, Tufts should renovate Wren Hall so the uphill dorm comes to be known for more than its bugs infestation.
Another possibility would be to expand the operation of Walnut Hill Properties, a University-operated real estate agency, which owns off-campus houses and rents them primarily to faculty. If more houses were purchased, the University could keep rents low and incorporate the spaces into the housing lottery. But either way, as rents continue to rise, students will want to stay on campus, and the University should encourage this transition by releasing lottery numbers in the fall. Tufts, which has an exorbitant price tag of its own, should be cognizant of this trend and protect its customers from the exorbitant price tags of local real estate owners.
