The decision of the College to purchase 15 off-campus under-graduate houses sparked suspicion and fear among students living in those apartments. The College has officially stated it does not know yet what it will do with its new acquisitions, but it should listen to current occupants and keep them as student houses functioning separately from other College housing options.
The College should recognize that students have numerous reasons for living off-campus: it can be cheaper; it can be a valuable learning experience; and most importantly, it can mean more freedom in choosing with whom and where students live.
Even if upgrading the houses to meet College standards is done, Safety and Security should not patrol these houses. Nor should the College put the new properties in the student housing lotteries. Students interested in living in the houses should have to negotiate leases with the College acting like any other Hanover landlord.
In addition, the College does not have the facilities right now to house the students who would be moved back on campus should the College turn these residences into faculty housing or simply not accept student leases.
This could mean a housing crunch in the very near future, since students wanting to live off-campus for the '00-'01 school year might not be able to wait until the College decides what to do with its new acquisitions.
The Trustees said soon after the announcement of the Initiative that they did not want to force students back onto campus. The College taking control of popular off-campus residences, though, makes students suspicious of this claim. The College needs to be honest and timely in announcing its intentions for the properties.
When the changes are introduced by the Trustees in the next year and plans for new housing options are clarified, perhaps some students currently off-campus will want to move back to the dorms. But for those students who want to stay off-campus, the houses should remain. Just because new options are being introduced, old possibilities that work should not be eliminated.
Robinson Hall is a series of columns representing the opinions of the summer editorial staff. The columns do not necessarily represent the official views of The Dartmouth.
