Student groups invited back to campus early this year for orientation were given free housing and food, but groups not associated with orientation were charged $75 per person for housing alone.
The official move-in period began Sunday, Sept. 4, but before that day, between 350 and 400 students associated with student groups, including residential assistants, had moved into their on-campus rooms.
The Orientation Committee invited many student groups, 21 of which had members who live on campus, according to Shawn Harmon, the Coordinator for Programs and Special Projects in the Dean of Students Office.
These groups were not charged for moving in early, and their members who live on campus were provided with three meals each day, Harmon said. Harmon helped oversee the two student orientation coordinators, in addition to the orientation events, programs and logistics.
Eight of the groups invited by the Orientation Committee performed at the Welcome Ceremony in the Gantcher Family Sports and Convocation Center on the evening of matriculation day.
Six groups not invited by the Orientation Committee had students move into their on-campus rooms early this year. These groups operated under a system the Office of Student Activities calls "Pay As You Go."
According to Director of Student Activities Jodie Nealley, about 12 students fell into this category. These students were charged $75 for moving in three days early, and they were not provided with a meal plan.
About seven members of the a capella group The Beelzebubs moved into their on-campus rooms early, according to business manager senior Doug Terry. The group was invited by the Orientation Committee and performed at the Welcome Ceremony.
Terry said the Office of Student Activities arranged the details of the members' move-in. The members picked up their keys and moved in on Sunday, Aug. 28. The members who live on campus were given a meal plan. "Everything was taken care of by them," Terry said.
The group was not charged because it performed during orientation. "It really never came up," Terry said. "It's always been understood that we're going to put in ten hours a day to put on a good show for the freshmen."
Terry described the free early move-in for group members as "payback."
Nealley said before she instituted the "Pay As You Go" system five years ago, "no student organizations were allowed to return early other than those working for orientation."
The Catholic Community at Tufts (CCT) is one of the student groups that was not invited by the Orientation Committee. This year, one of the CCT leaders lives on campus and moved in early.
Senior Annah Jones, the CCT president, said she had to provide Jodie Nealley with a reason the group wanted to return early and how the group planned to pay for the early move-in.
The group's leaders bake cookies for an incoming freshman barbeque on the Sunday during orientation and prepare for the first Mass.
The group included the early move-in expense in their budget for this year. Four CCT students moved in early last year, when the "Pay As You Go" price was $60, so the group budgeted for the same expense this year.
"I was a little bit relieved," Jones said, because only one member moved in early this year at the increased price. "It wound up being very cheap."
Jones said she understood why her group was not among those invited by the Orientation Committee. CCT is not "involved directly with orientation itself," she said. "We are more of a supplement."
Some individual students, not associated with groups or with orientation, also moved into their on-campus rooms early.
According to Director of Residential Life Yolanda King, some students requested to move in early because the official period began during the Labor Day holiday weekend. "We worked with students and family members case by case according to their individual circumstances," she said.
The Office of Residential Life made exceptions for students who had international flights, jobs starting early, standardized tests on set dates, and summer leases that were expiring.
These students were charged $25 per day.
Junior Abe Gissen, who is from Nevada, had an airplane reservation for Aug. 31 that he could not change. He moved into his on-campus room early, but he was not charged.
King said students' "personal circumstances" dictated whether or not they were charged for moving in early. "We made decisions in a fair and consistent manner based on what information students and their family members were providing."
