Every year, many Boston University students are unable to go home for the Thanksgiving holiday, opting instead to find local accommodations. For some students, this can mean trading turkey for Happy Meals at McDonalds and their dorms rooms for a hotel room shared with another student, even as Resident Assistants are allowed to stay in dorms free of charge through break, students and officials said.
Residence Life Director David Zamojski said that RAs have access to the residences because of their job responsibilities during breaks.
“RAs are Residence Life employees. As such, they have access to the residences during fall recess and spring recess, largely because of their job requirements. At the start of a vacation period, RAs are the last students in residence because they assist us in closing the halls,” Zamojski said. “Before the halls reopen after a vacation period, RAs are needed to assist us in opening the halls.”
Zamojski called RAs the “eyes and ears” of Residence Life. Having them on campus during break, he said, has proven beneficial to how the Residence Life office functions. As such, he said that RAs who stay on campus during break are still required to address security issues.
“Should a security or facility concern develop during a vacation period, an RA is often the first to discover it and bring it to the attention of the appropriate University department, whether it be BUPD, Facilities Management or Residence Life,” Zamojski said.
Nishmin Kashyp, director of housing, said that the reason why students cannot stay on campus is because Dining Services is closed during breaks and most students live off of meal plans.
California native Lauren Lee, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she found it difficult to find a place to stay when she decided not to take a plane back home. She said this year her parents decided to visit her instead.
“I understand that BU provides vacation housing, but to pay $160 a night, on top of what BU students already pay for regular housing, is unnecessary. I also do not want to share the room with a stranger if I have to pay out of pocket,” she said.
“Recently, my family flew out here in order to make the cost of plane tickets a family vacation,” she said. “However, after this year, I will have to stay with friends.”
Students who are staying on campus can have Thanksgiving dinner in Marsh Chapel on Thursday from 2 to 5 p.m. In past years, about 100 students have attended Marsh’s Thanksgiving dinner.
Students search for a place to stay every year for Thanksgiving break, said third-year School of Theology graduate student Micah Christian, president of the STH Student Association.
“Some of the students that I have spoken with have said that in the past they have spent their Thanksgiving either eating expensive hamburgers and hot dogs from Hotel Commonwealth, or eating alone at the McDonald’s in Kenmore Square,” Christian said. “If you can picture that scene, it does not seem like the best way for any student to spend their Thanksgiving.”
The meal, Christian said, will not only provide free food, but will also give students a chance to connect with others from around the BU community.
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