STAFF EDIT: Handling housing

Housing on any college campus is an integral part of the student experience. Whether we are aware of it or not, where we live and our consequent living environment are usually factors that can determine whether we grow to love or loathe the campus we adopt as our surrogate home. Boston University prides itself on its housing promise: Namely, students are guaranteed on-campus housing for all four years of their undergraduate career. It’s certainly an attractive promise, especially at a university that boasts such a diverse student body. As enamoured prospective students learn about BU’s campus, these same individuals are bombarded with glowing anecdotes of fostering community and renovated residences, which reflect BU’s commitment to student well-being. Security, food facilities and laundry facilities, among other things, are carefully considered and presented to the public.

Yet, while housing itself may be better than many other campuses, BU students are notorious for complaining about the housing selection process. Here, you find a disparity between what you’re promised at the beginning of the housing process and how reality unfolds. At the end of it, a select few are never around to publicly complain because they are relegated to the far-flung Danielsen Hall. Unfortunately, a lottery system seems to be the only fair solution to housing selection, so the system can’t be helped. Due to the larger class of 2014 and an influx of seniors choosing to stay on campus, last year’s housing appointments brought anger and frustration to many BU students. According to a housing update published in The Daily Free Press today, smaller incoming classes won’t better students’ chances of getting housing of their choice, but it will just shift a larger quota to incoming transfer students.

So where does that leave the current state of BU housing? Envelopes in dorm mailrooms everywhere were sharply torn apart yesterday, as students received their lottery numbers. For some, staring down at those black numbers is a metaphorical death sentence. Perhaps now is the time for BU to adequately exercise its breadth in housing possibilities. For instance, freshman-only dorms. Why should sophomores be subjected to living in Warren Towers against their will while freshmen are placed in desirable brownstones? If Warren, West Campus halls and Towers were to be opened only to freshmen, the possibility of providing an easier transition for first-year students is tangible.

Furthermore, the prospect of specialty housing should be re-visited and revamped. While the idea is a popular selling point during orientation and admissions tours, its impact and prominence in the BU community is marginal. For those students looking for a smaller community to integrate themselves into, this alternative could be a fantastic way to add vibrancy to the overall BU community.

Increases in what one pays to attend BU have been on the forefront of everyone’s minds, and housing is pivotal to that equation. A review of housing facilities is secondary; the emergence of the Center for Student Services will enhance the residential area. What does need to be scrutinized is implementing a viable selection system. In addition, petitions and discussions over gender-neutral housing will add another portion to BU’s housing spectrum. As we all prepare to enter the housing selection frenzy, armed with our numbers, luck and a bit of hope, only time will indicate which students the process will favor or fail.