To the Editor:
As a Brown alum now doing graduate work at Princeton, I'm in a position to point out two inaccuracies in The Herald's recent article about guaranteed housing for undergraduates ("Bigger housing crunch, computerized lottery common at other colleges," March 17). First, the Princeton University Housing Department's current policy is to guarantee on-campus housing for all undergraduates starting in 2004-2005, provided that they do not miss application deadlines or violate the terms of their housing contracts. As a matter of fact, Princeton has found housing for all undergraduates on its summer waitlist for the past 25 years and even delayed renovation of a dorm this past year in order to do so. Secondly, the upperclassman "room draw," as it's called here at Princeton, actually is not based on seniority only. In fact, this past year most rising sophomores had a relatively easy time selecting rooms with their first-year hallmates in their smaller residential college lotteries, while 130 rising juniors were the unlucky ones put on the summer waitlist . So at least as far as Princeton is concerned, The Herald cannot so easily defend the housing status quo at Brown in relation to other Ivy League schools.By writing this, I am not trying to suggest that Brown necessarily should drop its current seniority-based lottery system or adopt a residential college system like Princeton's. But as I am reminded every time I use my ID card to let myself into any undergraduate dorm or walk into my multiple-use coed bathroom in the Graduate College (which, unlike its Brown counterpart, is not a misnomer), there are many ways that an open-minded administration could make better use of Brown's existing housing stock. I hope that Jesse Goodman '04 and the rest of the Residential Council continue their hard work to improve the residential living experience for all Brown students.
Evan Metcalfe '03Former Residential Council Lottery ChairMarch 22
