Boston University has begun relocating students previously assigned to triples and quads to new spaces, as part of its initiative to create a safer campus when students return in Fall.
The University initially announced in its “Same Campus, New Campus Life” guidebook June 22 that students assigned to triples — excluding those in 575 Commonwealth Avenue — and quads would have some or all of their roommates moved to singles or doubles elsewhere.
BU Spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email that the relocations are happening for two reasons: reducing the density of these rooms, and setting aside on-campus housing to serve as quarantine and isolation spaces.
Three-person and four-person bedrooms across campus are cheaper than singles and doubles on campus, according to the 2020-2021 room and board rate listings on the BU Housing site.
Riley wrote that those who are placed in a more expensive room will not be expected to pay the difference, as they will likely be assigned to a similar style room at the same price. Even if that cannot be arranged, however, students may not have to cover extra expenses.
“If a similar room type is not available at the time the student is reassigned,” Riley wrote, “BU Housing may relocate students to a different room type at no additional cost.”
If any issues arise in the price of Housing, Riley wrote that students should contact BU Housing Senior Associate Director Steve Prue to resolve the complication. Nobody should be asked to pay more than their original Housing assignment, according to Riley, if they were forced by the University to swap accommodations.
The University is reaching out to individuals who need to be moved on a case-by-case basis, Riley wrote. All students who will be reassigned should receive notice of their new Housing before returning to campus this Fall.
In an interview with The Daily Free Press about the campus life guidebook, Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore said much of the relocating stems from the need to create households — groups of students who live together — that share usage of the same bathroom.
Household sizes can range from two roommates in one room to a total of eight people who comprise separate, adjacent rooms, Elmore said. This will be harder to enforce in larger dormitories, he said, because of the communal bathrooms.
“That household, quite frankly is attached to bathroom use and bathroom spaces, so they’re consistent and they’re consistently used by the same people,” Elmore said. “[So] that you’re mindful about not overcrowding the bathroom based upon what the recommended number of people in that space should be.”
The reason students in 575 Commonwealth Avenue will not need to be moved, Elmore said, is because a room that houses three people still offers one private bathroom for all to share.
Michal Ninyo, a rising junior in the College of Arts and Sciences, was originally assigned to a triple on Bay State Road. She said she and her two roommates decided to go this route because it was cheaper.
The day the guidebook was released, Ninyo contacted BU Housing and requested that she and her friends remain together even if they must move. She said Housing relocated the girls on June 24 to Student Village and did not make clear whether they would be expected to pay the difference.
“We reached out to Housing, who basically said that was the only way we could keep you guys together, and we were like, ‘But no one reached out to us,’” Ninyo said. “And they were like, ‘Well, sorry. You can either live there together or figure it out on your own.’”
Ninyo said that because Housing made the process unclear, her roommates decided to swap back to their original triple and convert the space to a double, while Ninyo now searches for an off-campus living arrangement.
“I wish [Housing] had just communicated and been more blunt with us, saying, ‘We’re going to try and move you all together or you need to decide on someone moving out,” Ninyo said. “They just need to be more honest with us, instead of keeping us in the dark.”
Ninyo added that the overall situation has left her in an uncomfortable position.
“I’m frustrated because if I wanted to live off-campus, I’d rather have my lease signed two months ago and not really be scrambling right now,” Ninyo said. “I live in Connecticut so it’s like a three-hour drive to drive up to Boston to see apartments.”
