Housing finds rooms for larger-than-expected student body

According to Manager of Undergraduate Housing Angela Hodgeman, all freshmen were allotted a dorm room in mid-July, and all returning students who had applied to the wait list on time were given housing by the last week of August, just as in previous years. Hodgeman expects to house the student who applied late to the wait list in the coming week.

“It’s likely that we will receive a few more cancellations,” Hodgeman said. “We have about 100 students who have yet to check in as of [Wednesday morning]. So it’s likely that a few of those students will opt not to return.”

After University officials announced that the number of students enrolled in the Class of 2016 was 50 to 65 more than expected, the Housing Office was left to create dorm space for the extra freshmen. At the same time, the office was responsible for placing the 109 upperclass students that remained on the housing wait list in a room.

Housing made an additional 51 beds available for students by converting recreational and study spaces into dorm rooms, including many of the lounges in Forbes and Whitman as well as the third floor of Wilcox Hall.

The office also sent out emails nearly once a week to undergraduates, reminding students of the deadline to cancel their housing contracts. Hodgeman confirmed that more of these notifications were sent out this summer than in the past, but denied that this was related to this year’s housing situation.

“We were trying to remind students in order for them to get their cancellation in on time so that they could avoid that fee,” said Hodgeman, noting that many students objected to having to pay the cancellation fee last year.

Kandasi Griffiths ’14, who received the last upperclass housing draw time and was placed on the wait list, said that Housing did a good job accommodating students.

“If I had to handle as many students as they did, I couldn’t see how I could have done it any better,” she said.

Griffiths, who had hoped to live in a single near the people in her draw group, was assigned to a quad in Brown on Aug. 22, with roommates whom she had never met, but is nonetheless satisfied with her room.

“The main thing for me was location,” she explained. “And that all worked out.”

Devin Stearns ’16 was also pleased with his housing assignment on the third floor of Wilcox in a converted study room. He noted that he was very surprised when he saw that his double appeared to be twice the size of those he had seen in other dorm buildings. He cited several conveniences, including the proximity of the dining hall and the fact that Wilcox is the only dorm in Wilson College with air-conditioning.

“They did a good job putting everything together,” Stearns said. “I could already tell that the room was new. It’s a very fortunate situation, and this room is a luxury to have.”

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Wilcox residential college adviser Aminata Seydi ’14 noted that her zees are a “close group already,” attributing this fact to the layout of the rooms, which consists of a straight hallway with singles, doubles, triples and a common room that is available to anyone on the floor. In other halls in Wilson, she said, winding hallways make it difficult for people in the same zee group to see each other.

“Usually the only problem with Wilson is the housing,” Seydi said. “But I think my zees will get a great experience. It’s a cool experiment for Wilson.”

The Housing Office is also satisfied with the changes that have been made this year and is already planning for the future.

“Some of the rooms that we were able to offer to freshmen are very nice rooms, so maybe we will keep those in that allotment,” Hodgeman said. “But we will have to see what is decided about the incoming class size and go from there.”

While Griffiths was ultimately happy with her room for this year, she added, “I really hope that I’m not on the wait list next year.”