Close to 200 Jumbos are still looking for housing for next year, after the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) experienced an extraordinary housing crunch during last week's lottery. A larger number of seniors-to-be than usual chose to live on campus next year, limiting rooms for next year's junior class.
Only 70 rooms were made available to this year's sophomore class of approximately 1200. An estimated 20 freshmen girls also did not receive housing in the lottery. Although rising sophomores will eventually be provided rooms on campus, many are scrambling to find off-campus apartments.
The causes of increased demand, according to Dean of Students Bruce Reitman, include "increasing dependence on Internet connections" and "a presence of support and dialogue resources more readily available on campus." ResLife declined to comment and referred all questions to the Dean of Students office.
"The political situation in the world makes students and their parents prefer living on campus," Reitman said. Renovation work done in dorms over the last several years may have also made residence halls more attractive to students, according to Reitman.
First-year students were disappointed by the unavailability of housing for next year, especially since they are guaranteed on-campus rooms. While no male freshmen are still looking for housing, many freshman females are still waiting to find out where they will be living.
Freshman Emily Baraf was one of several freshmen who arrived at her scheduled lottery appointment and was told to give ResLife her phone number because "they had run out of rooms," she said. A week later, she called the Office of Residential Life and was told the only thing she could get was a "closet single" in Wren Hall. Baraf said the communication with ResLife has "all been one-way."
Although Baraf's appointment was during one of the first days of the lottery, rooms were being saved to be given to incoming freshmen.
Baraf did not fault the lottery system itself but said the University should have a larger array of options.
"I shouldn't have to live in a closet-sized room," she said, noting the sizeable tuition and housing fees students pay to the University.
Baraf was not the only one frustrated by this year's lottery. Sophomore Marcellus Rolle waited in line at Hodgdon Hall for over an hour but ended up one of many juniors-to-be having to go on the waiting list.
Like Baraf, he did not blame the lottery system but the inability of the Office of Residential Life to deal with the housing shortage. "Obviously ResLife has known about this problem," Rolle said. "They were supposed to release juniors' numbers early so we wouldn't have to be worrying about this now."
Rolle and his roommates will have to seek off-campus housing now. Yet, because they began searching so late in the semester, there are few affordable off-campus housing options left, and they are disappointed in the Office of Residential Life.
"They were supposed to be making strides to make the whole housing lottery easier, but nevertheless it just seems like it's more jumbled," Rolle said.
ResLife is working to help the large number of students still seeking housing. Members of the two-year-old Office of Off Campus Housing, Reitman said, "are actively seeking apartment openings around campus, working with students on negotiation skills and providing roommate matching."
ResLife will also provide "short-stay" opportunities that allow students to stay in the residence halls after exams and through the summer while they seek off campus housing.
Sophomore Andrew Gelfand was "rather worried about the whole situation because the [housing] system has been a problem in the past." He chose to seek off- campus housing early on.
He pointed out that some people have grants or loans for housing, but they can only be used for on-campus housing. Many times, however, "people who could afford off campus housing get the on-campus housing. The whole situation stinks."
Any current seniors who are vacating an apartment should call ResLife at x3248 with their landlord's name, address, and number of rooms available.
