Every year, Brown students are forced to go through one of the worst processes of their time here. Before I tell you what it is, think of a few possibilities.
Was the housing assignment process one of them? If so, you agree with many people on campus. Despite what the Herald’s Editorial Page Board wrote (“Editorial: Save the housing lottery,” Sept. 12), it’s probably one of the worst systems you could possibly come up with for figuring out housing at a university.
They advertise it as one of the most exciting times of the year. I can think of stressful, strenuous, frustrating, intense, painful and ridiculous as a few adjectives to describe it, but definitely not exciting.
Let’s start with the basics.
For one, students have three chances to live where and with whom they want during their time at Brown. Who you live with and where you live are often two of the most important factors in determining academic, social and spiritual success. Yet hundreds of students get shafted every year because of the unconscionable system of “summer assignment.”
Summer assignment says several things. It says, “Hey, we actually don’t care very much about giving you residential options, we just care about making sure we can have your $7,200 in residential fees, sorry.” It also says, “Oh, and we also don’t care very much about whether or not you live with who you want. But we’re still getting your $7K per year. We’re sorry?”
It’s absolutely ridiculous that every year, over 50 students in every class don’t know where they will be living until the end of summer rolls around and somebody places them in rooms. Not only that, but they also often don’t even know whether they’ll be living with the people they went into the housing lottery with. What about the groups of athletes or singers or actors who are trying to live together so they don’t have to deal with drunk roommates coming in at 2 a.m. before a game or performance?
I know more than a few groups who have been split up because of summer assignment. Often, half the group gets put somewhere great and everyone else gets put in a dump. That’s awesome for the half living in Vartan Gregorian Quadrangle or 315 Thayer St., but what about the sorry party that ends up between Phi Psi and Alpha Chi Omega in Sears House on Wriston Quadrangle?
This leads me to my second point — the housing lottery fails spectacularly to take into account the value of quality living spaces here on campus. Just look at the changes in residence halls that are now designated for certain classes.
Barbour Hall, though farther from campus than a lot of dorms, offers arguably some of the best living space across campus. The suites have huge common rooms and options for doubles, singles, quads and triples, as well as private kitchens and bathrooms. Yet it was recently assigned to be sophomore-only housing.
That’s good for the sophomores, but what about all of my upperclassmen classmates stuck living in Graduate Center suites with filthy bathrooms and no common rooms? And don’t forget to count the abundance of light and the friendly concrete interior. You’ve got to be kidding me.
Possibly the worst thing about all of this, though, is that it’s become almost impossible to live off campus until you’re a senior. This just reinforces the point that your freedom to choose where you want to live at Brown is slim to none. For those underclassmen who haven’t read the fine print under the housing contract, it says “off-campus only guaranteed for seniors.” What it should say is, “If you’re hoping to live off campus as a junior, don’t bother, because by the time you get permission to do so, if you even get it, there will be no houses left for you to choose from. Sorry again.”
More and more people are trying to live off campus every year in large part so they can avoid the housing lottery. I know people who don’t get permission to live off campus and end up doing everything they can to live in Machado House or Buxton House — dorms with program houses students can apply to join — so they don’t have to deal with the possibility of facing summer assignment and all its uncertainties. There shouldn’t be a mad struggle to live in comfort, but that’s what it is.
Choosing where you will live for a whole year seems like a pretty important part of one’s college experience. It’s outrageous that such a critical aspect of life at Brown is regulated by such a disorganized system of selection. Maybe moving it online will help, but come on, Brown. There’s just no excuse.
Daniel Delaney ’15 can be reached for comments at daniel_delaney@brown.edu.
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