‘I’ve got it!’ Melissa DePena screamed. ‘I’ve got the lifebook!’

Catching her breath after nearly being executed by another student in her floor’s game of ‘Assassins,’ the lifebook serving as protection from imaginary execution, DePena is one of the many Boston University students housed at the Cambridge Radisson who said they do not mind being displaced from campus by more than a mile.

Furthermore, she and others want to remain the entire year.

‘This is life here,’ DePena said, clutching her lifebook. ‘Just another night on the 10th floor.’

Meanwhile, a man passes by with a housekeeping cart full of clean sheets, toilet paper and towels. Aside from the framed artwork on the walls and familiar hotel smell, in many ways it differs little from any dorm on campus. And DePena, a College of General Studies freshman, said she feels the same.

‘We’ve all grown together here,’ she said.

While noting the distance and displacement from campus, DePena said she has adjusted to the location and plans accordingly when she needs to be on campus.

‘You get into a routine here,’ she said. ‘I want to stay.’

DePena said she has yet to hear any word from the Office of Housing, but worries the relocation and adjustment to a new floor, roommate and environment will be difficult.

Roberto Cepeda, a College of Arts and Sciences freshman, said he has also adapted to life at the Radisson.

‘The people in the building are really cool,’ he said. ‘It’s disconnected, but I don’t feel like I have anything in common with the residents on campus.’

Cepeda said he felt the disconnection was partially due to a lack of university sponsored programming and events for students within the building, such as movies, speakers or a karaeoke night, as other dorms often sponsor.

On the other hand, with amenities like cable, a swimming pool and linen service perks that would have Warren Towers residents salivating CGS freshman Chris Garrett said certain aspects of Radisson life would be difficult to leave behind.

‘In some ways, living here is more like a vacation,’ he said

Garrett also mentioned the midyear transition to a new dorm as a major concern.

‘Having to move to a place where people have been together all semester, it’s going to be difficult to start over,’ he said. ‘I like our floor.’

However, these few students are not the only ones looking to make their stay a semi-permanent one. David Dardashti, a School of Management freshman and Radisson RHA president, is collecting signatures this week among the building’s residents and RAs to petition the Office of Housing for a full year in the hotel.

‘People want to stay here, even though we put up with a lot of inconvenience that’s the bottom line,’ he said. ‘People who didn’t like their roommate or the Radisson have already moved out.’

Dardashti said in the short time he has lived in the hotel, he has seen important social connections, relationships and friendships develop between the first-year students.

‘There’s a chemistry here between the floors,’ Dardashti said. ‘They’re like families, and there’s a special feeling living here. You wouldn’t have that community again when you’re transferred to a new dorm in the middle of the year.

‘The scariest part of being a freshman is worrying whether or not you’re going to make friends,’ he said. ‘To be told that you’re going back to square one simply isn’t fair.’

Working with the Office of Housing to address the residents’ concerns, Dardashti said he was told forming a petition would be the first major step in communication between students and administration.

‘I’m not sure if housing knows how the students feel, because the only opinions they receive are the complaints,’ Dardashti said. ‘Of the approximately 200 students that live here, I am confident we can get over 150 signatures in the petition.’

But with or without a petition, Dardashti said he wants the Radisson residents’ opinions to be heard.

‘We didn’t choose to be put here,’ he said. ‘We made the best of an imperfect situation once and now we’re being told to do it again.’

However, with a limited shuttle bus service to and from campus, no dining hall or laundry facilities and a considerable walk to Commonwealth Avenue, not all students find the Radisson to be the ivory tower others do.

‘It’s not a dorm,’ said Mike Gretz, a School of Education freshman. ‘To me, the hotel is a place where I sleep.’

Unlike other students who worried about moving on campus, Gretz expressed his eagerness to pack his bags.

‘I’m excited to get a new floor,’ he said. ‘It’s almost like starting a new school year.’

Gretz also said he was told there would be individual meetings with each student to make a list of the residences they would like to be transferred to next semester.

‘There’s a lot of rumors floating around about what’s going to happen to us,’ he said. ‘I just want to be in a real dorm.’

College of Communication freshman Emily Black said while she thought the Radisson was far from perfect, she would not be moving to a new dorm next semester.

She’s moving off campus completely.

‘From what I’ve heard, people in the dorms form their group of friends the first week of school,’ she said. ‘After that, it’s a lot harder to meet people.’

Black also said she was not sure about the effectiveness or validity of a petition.

‘It sounds kind of ridiculous,’ she said.