Housing Next Year: Randolph to Close, Others No Longer Freshmen
2 min read
BY MICHELLE DACHMAN
Residence Life recently announced that residence halls previously considered upperclassmen dorms, will now be made freshmen, along with other changes to take place over the summer.
According to Chris Porter, director of residence life, with Eagle Village under construction and expected to open this Fall 2010, there will be 624 new units available for upperclassmen. As a result of this addition, Arrington Hall and Bushnell Hall will be made into freshmen housing.
Porter said Randolph Hall and Mason Tunnel will be closed for renovations starting this summer. Mason Hall will become an upperclassmen residence hall.
Some students are not happy with the changes and are worried about the effects the construction will have on campus.
“I don’t like how they are going to put students in Mason Hall while they are constructing [on the Mason tunnel],” Aliyah Jameer, a junior living in Alvey Hall, said.
“I don’t care what they change about the residence halls, but I think that Virginia Hall should always remain all freshmen girls to pay homage to what the school used to be,” Katherine Rawls, a senior, said.
“It is also a feeling of comfort for incoming freshman girls to know that they will be in the same boat as other girls.”
Students who live in Arrington, Bushnell or Randolph will have to go through displaced homesteading. According to the residence life Web site, displaced homesteading gives students that are not able to remain in their current room for any reason a chance to choose other accommodations on campus that are comparable to their current place.
All of the changes were proposed by and then carried on to Cedric Rucker, dean of student life along with the Vice President of Student Affairs, Douglas Searcy.
“It is not uncommon in a building’s life for it to meet different needs,” Christine Porter, director of residence life, said of the changes. “I have been here since 1999, and I have seen that it is a pretty standard practice.”
According to Porter, all of the changes are likely to remain for at least a year.
