The housing policy released today by the Office of Residential Life is a positive step toward creating a sense of community on a campus plagued by residential discontinuity and dissatisfaction.
Under the new policy, up to eight friends will be able to live together in adjacent rooms. This option will increase student satisfaction and attract students who would otherwise move to off-campus apartments -- both vital priorities with 57 percent more students living off-campus than in 1989.
The Dartmouth Plan is a perennial obstacle to residential continuity. The brief 10-week terms and frequent leave terms make it difficult for students to feel any sense of permanence in residence halls. By allowing eight students to live in close proximity, ORL will make it possible for students to return to their friends in the same hallway even after leave terms.
The new policy also standardizes room rent for all beds on campus. This is a logical change. And the new policy cracks down on the unfair and elitist practice of upperclassmen selling their housing numbers to younger students.
Letting students live in the same space with the same people allows for the development of residential communities. Community is the rule at many colleges; at Dartmouth, it is a work in progress. ORL's attempt to satisfy students is practical and commendable.
