The best-laid plans of mice, men and the Office of Residential Life and Learning (ORLL) often go awry.
Although the construction of the dorm was meant to increase the percentage of seniors living on-campus in the 2006-07 academic year, the figure plummeted to 25 percent (from 70 percent the previous year).
But administrators are hoping that a better Stratton Hall will help reverse the trend.
Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said that Stratton is the lynchpin of a hypothetical "senior corridor" along Talbot Avenue that would be a nucleus of senior campus life, with Sophia Gordon on one side and Hotung soon-to-open pub on another.
According to the current plan, all of Stratton's existing double-occupancy rooms will be converted to singles and dispersed as such in this year's housing lottery, according to Yolanda King, Director of Residential Life.
"All the rooms that we offer in the lottery for Stratton will be ... singles that will be available to upperclass students," she told the Daily in an e-mail.
The dorm, which now fits around 90 students, will lose about 20 beds. According to Reitman, this move will leave "palatial" rooms that will hopefully be attractive to seniors.
The plan began in the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate with a resolution co-authored by senior and TCU President Mitch Robinson.
"The Senate sat down with Dean Reitman and Yolanda [King], and we were talking about how we could make the options on campus more attractive to student body and upperclassmen," Robinson said. "We wanted to put something together that would make housing on campus more attractive."
Feedback from students, in turn, pointed towards renovating the building. "One of things students want is singles, and larger singles," he said. "The Senate felt very strongly that it's important that we figure out ways in which we can make on-campus housing as attractive as possible."
The administration then worked with Facilities over the winter to decide what physical adjustments are necessary.
Aside from the room conversions, the worn-down first-floor kitchen will also be replaced with a new kitchen in the basement, anchoring a fresh new common space.
But will the seniors buy into it?
"I think a Stratton/Sophia corridor would be fantastic," senior Matt Raifman told the Daily in an e-mail. "I would in fact much prefer living with most of the seniors on campus in that area. Especially once the Hotung [pub] opens, I think that section of campus will be much more desirable to seniors."
Raifman lived in Stratton last semester and has since moved out, citing a lack of amenities and a comfortable common space. Now, he's settled in at Tufts apartment-style housing at 10 Winthrop St.
He said that basic improvements could go a long way, and have been long in coming. "It is important to remember that most seniors see on-campus living as a sacrifice of comfort," he said. "This sacrifice must be minimized if possible. I think these facility problems are the real obstacle to retaining a senior presence on campus."
But for others, the prospect of more singles is not very appealing. Junior Jen Bokoff, who applied for a Sophia Gordon suite this year with three friends but was denied, said the group planned to stay together, whether in an on-campus apartment or off-campus house.
"We're not going to split up into singles in Stratton," she said. "It's hard to exclude people from the group once you've made a commitment to other friends."
"Singles are a great option for people who never made a deal [to live] with their friends," she said. "But for the majority of the people who have friends they wanted to live with, [Stratton] wasn't a viable option."
Others are more ambivalent. Junior Jessica Ceruzzi applied for and was not granted a Sophia Gordon suite, but said she was set on an apartment-style setup and "not really considering Stratton."
"I do know of a couple people looking for singles," she said. "I guess it's appealing to some people, but most [people] I know are either living off-campus or in apartments."
For others, convenience may trump feelings about singles. Senior Rebecca Diamond said that students arranging housing from abroad might find the hassle-free structure of a Stratton room appealing. "As more and more people go abroad, they will find it more convenient to live on campus, and it might end up being just as easy if they're in a bind," she said.
Even if Stratton does prove to be popular, King said that sophomores, who have come to enjoy Stratton's large rooms in the past when demand has flagged from upperclassmen, need not worry.
Housing for freshmen and sophomores will still be guaranteed and rooms still "will be set aside" on campus for them, she told the Daily in an e-mail.
