The
Week of March 21, 2012 • Vol. 37, Iss 21 •
Mirror
The Reflection of Fairfield
• Independent Student Newspaper of Fairfield University
F.U. Housing!
Rising junior class reports hectic housing experience Emails, angry phone calls and occasional crowds arrived at the Office of Residence Life this week as the countdown to the class of 2014 housing pick night neared its close. Particularly dedicated droves of students spent entire mornings and afternoons waiting for help from Residence Life employees, some hoping to find last-minute roommates as they paced the LLBCC. As expected, all applicants for junior year housing will be guaranteed a residence on campus; however, groups that received a lottery number higher than 92 were notified Tuesday morning that they were to exit the lottery, split and reconstruct their groups to live in “8 person apartments” or opt to live in Kostka Hall. Even applicant groups who reconfigure into eightperson residences are not guaranteed apartments, depending on their lottery number. Rising junior Brandon Bubba’s lottery number was 97. He asked: “Why does housing have to add stress to people’s lives? They built more housing to make it easier for juniors and seniors, and now it’s harder for me to get the housing that I want than it was for sophomore year. They should be offering me a beach house.” Acting Director of Residence Life Ophelie RoweAllen knows from experience that this state of affairs on the eve of pick night is not unusual, and the frustration for this year is not expected to end soon. “[The frustration] is going to continue until they all get housing. This is normal and we are prepared for it every year,” said Rowe-Allen. Suzy Peterson, a secretary at the office of Residence Life for 12 years, echoed Ophelie. “We’ve had a lot worse years with phone calls and parents upset. Some years it’s a piece of cake. Sometimes it’s like there’s a full moon,” said Peterson. Developments that have yet to occur may make some students’ stress unwarranted. What many students do not know is that approximately 50 students from the class of 2014 are projected to not return to school this coming fall.
Story By Luigi DiMeglio Chief Copy Editor
Photo Illustration By Loan Le Executive Editor
Housing | page 3