This past week saw the annual ritual of room draw, and with it, the varying reactions of joy, indifference and frustration as students received their housing assignments for next fall. Nearly twice as many rising seniors went to room draw as expected and the guarantees of housing to all sophomores quickly became unrealistic without a waitlist. On one end, the popularity of the new residence halls should be commended -- high numbers of students interested in on-campus living is essential to creating a stronger community. However, the Office of Residential Life must make a solid effort next year to ensure that room draw proceeds more smoothly. Although the hiccup in room draw was caused by an unexpected demand for Dartmouth housing, Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman told The Dartmouth he had been nervous for a couple weeks before room draw due to a high number of rental vacancies in town, which should have led to more advanced planning. While ORL should be applauded for finally removing residences such as the "treehouses," it should have conducted far better research as to how many people would want to live on campus. Fortunately, it is likely that, as in the past, those students on a wait-list will have housing by the time Fall term begins.
The problems of room draw, however, do not rest solely with ORL. The process of room draw assumes that students come into the process with some knowledge of the offerings. Misconceptions about the new dorms may have led students to have unrealistic ideas about what sort of housing they could obtain. Indeed, underclass students who gripe about two-room triples in the Fayerweather cluster should be glad they are avoiding the dreaded one-room double in the Lodge. Additionally, upperclass students created many problems by registering for ORL housing while still planning on living off-campus, removing rooms from the system before underclass students can draw.
In the end, ORL could have planned better for the event, but rarely do things advance perfectly and without problems. The College, with the help of ORL, has made serious advancements with housing on campus. Next year, perhaps, the horrific housing crunch may become a myth of the past.
