An additional 100 seniors will be forced to live off-campus next fall due to changes in the College's eligibility standards for on-campus housing, according to a letter sent to students by the Office of Residential Life on Monday. Students from the Class of 2008 or earlier, along with fifth-year students in the Thayer B.E. program, will be ineligible to participate in room draw in the spring or in the fall housing assignment process for private and College-owned coed, fraternity and sorority and undergraduate society houses.
Monday's announcement follows the 2006 opening of the McLaughlin Cluster, Fahey Hall and McLane Hall and the renovation of Hitchcock Hall, completed at the end of the 2007 Fall term. While these projects represented a net gain of 125 beds at the time, the College will face a net loss of beds with the closing of Hinman and Brewster Halls and the Lodge, and renovations to decrease crowding in existing dormitories.
ORL said it will be able to house only 400 seniors in residence halls next fall, which will require approximately 10 percent of students to live off-campus.
"ORL has made these choices because we believe seniors, 'active olders' and fifth-year Thayer B.E.'s are best equipped to find appropriate housing in the community and transition to living off-campus," the letter states. "To place that expectation on rising sophomores, who have the least experience at Dartmouth or juniors, who are enrolled for the fewest consecutive terms, seemed to be an unfair burden on groups who would find the transition much more challenging than our older and more experienced students."
Seniors will still have priority in room draw, Redman said. Housing that has traditionally been designated specifically for seniors, like the River apartments, will also still be available.
While Dean of Residential Life Martin Redman said ORL has not conducted a scientific survey of off-campus student accommodations, he said his informal discussions with local landlords lead him to believe that space is available for the additional students.
The room draw changes will require fewer students to live off campus than the 580 students who were doing so four or five years ago, Redman said.
Several rising seniors interviewed by The Dartmouth said they were distressed by the College's announcement because of the changes' financial and logistical effects. They criticized ORL's decision not to notify them earlier.
"As someone who lived off-campus my entire sophomore year and experienced the wrath of some pretty neglectful, rude and niggardly landlords, I am amongst those seniors who is hoping to live on campus next year," Molly Davidson '09 said in an e-mail. "Hanover's off-campus options are limited not only by the number of houses around the area available to College students, but also by the exorbitant prices."
Davidson added later, "I didn't want to worry about paying bills and dealing with landlords and superintendents to ensure that the heat would be on and the water would be warm; ORL was supposed to be a safety net, and now I feel let down."
Redman said he was surprised students found College housing significantly less expensive, explaining that he usually tries to keep the cost of rooming "either neck and neck or just a little under" the local housing market.
Redman cautioned, however, that these changes depend on the enrollment of next year's freshman class meeting expectations.
