This article is part two in a two-part series about housing on campus.
All it took for College of Arts and Sciences and College of Communication sophomore Shauna Ward to get into the Hospitality Administration House on Bay State Road was for her to claim an interest in School of Hospitality Administration on her application, she said.
“[Residence Life] doesn’t check up on students to make sure they’re telling the truth on their applications,” Ward said. “When I applied, I didn’t write that I was going to major in SHA, but I did say that I was interested in it. I can tell some of the residents of the house are annoyed that so few SHA students live there.”
Yvette Lancaster, assistant director for lower Bay State Road, said that ResLife will work with an advisory board starting in October to build a greater sense of community in specialty housing.
“The big picture at specialty communities is working together,” Lancaster said. “For the last five years, Residence Life, the Dean of Students Office and the Academic Affairs Department has been evaluating and assessing the specialty program.”
Students living in specialty housing that do not meet the requirements of their residences lose their room and internal rights for the following year and must reapply for community housing, according to the Housing website.
“If they don’t meet these expectations, we will not approve their return,” Lancaster said in an email interview. “Of course, the specialty advisors play a role in this as well.”
CAS sophomore Jatnna Garcia said the rules for her residence, the Italian House, are “selective enough.” Residents are required to either speak Italian, study Italian or have an Italian heritage, she said.
“They look favorably upon people who like Italian movies, who enjoy eating Italian food, listening to Italian music and who may positively contribute to reinforcing the importance and beauty of the Italian culture,” Garcia said, “but sometimes the demand to get in specialty communities is so great, that some students work around the standard housing selection process.”
“I can still understand why people might look down on the fact that I’m living in a specialty house where I don’t technically belong, but there’s no COM house,” Ward said. “If there were a COM house, I would live there in a heartbeat.”
Dan Carman, a CAS junior, said he “cheated” his way into the system and avoided the housing selection process.
“I lived in Warren my freshman year and then around November, I talked to the RA at some Classics event,” he said. “She said the easiest way to get into the house is by doing room change and skipping the housing selection process altogether.”
Carman said he filled out the form in December and got the call to move in February. As a result, he said he got the same room this year.
Just as language houses require a strong commitment to a spoken language, the Common Ground House, Sargent College House, Classics House and other specialty houses set requirements for their residents, Lancaster said.
“Just last week Sargent House had Professor Karen Jacobs come to 33 Harry Agganis with their RA and everyone cooked a Sargent Choice healthy meal,” she said. “It was a good collaboration and about 20 people went.”
Housing rules are often strict about attendance to Classics House events, from Museum of Fine Arts visits to screenings of “300” and “Gladiator,” Carman said. The events alone, however, are not what brings students together.
“I mean, it is not because of the housing rules that you must attend this many events to be a part of this house next year, which cause us to come together,” he said. “We actually want to geek around since we have that sort of academic sense of humor. We try, at least.”
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