The number of students permitted to live off campus next year will decrease from this year's total, according to Senior Associate Dean of Residential Life Richard Bova. Thus far, the Office of Residential Life has received 1,027 applications and expects to receive 300 more, but will only accept around 1,075 applications.
For the 2005-2006 school year, 1,227 students are living off campus. According to ResLife, the downturn in the number of students who are permitted to live off campus is not abnormal. The class of 2006 is the biggest class currently at Brown, which explains the large off-campus population. The number of students living off campus next year, Bova said, will return to what has been standard for the past six years.
Still, David Greene, vice president for campus life and student services, said he would like to see more students choose to remain in on-campus housing for all four years. As of right now, about 80 percent of undergraduates live in on-campus housing. Greene cited on-campus housing percentages well above Brown's at Yale, Princeton and Harvard universities. Harvard, for example, keeps 97 percent of its students on campus.
Greene mentioned several benefits of living on campus that he believes many students do not recognize. Foremost, according to Greene, is a student's safety, which Brown can only effectively monitor if the student lives on campus. Greene also believes students in on-campus housing are more likely to take advantage of campus-wide events. One result of upperclassmen living off campus is a paucity of leadership positions filled by upperclassmen. As a result, Greene continued, more sophomores are filling positions traditionally reserved for experienced upperclassmen.
Many students see this issue in a different light.
"Some students who went to boarding school for high school are eager to move off campus," said Chair of Residential Council Brendan Hargreaves '06. Students have different motivations for moving off campus, but a primary one is the desire for more freedom, he said. "It's difficult to police people who live off campus," Hargreaves said.
But this can lead to other complications. "With freedom comes new responsibilities, such as paying your utilities bill," said Daniel Beswick '06. A car was stolen from Beswick's off-campus house over winter break. In the process, the thief left the door to the house open, "so our pipes froze," he added.
For the most part, Beswick and his housemates have had good relations with their neighbors. In a video that is required viewing for all students moving off campus, a local resident is quoted saying, "I can hear at night everything anyone says in the street." The video emphasizes community respect and responsibility. Prov-idence Mayor David Cicilline '83 reminds students that they represent the University in "our community."
In 2005, the University initiated a Housing Task Force to explore expanding on-campus housing opportunities, such as apartments and suites, Greene said. As of now, there are 4,650 beds on campus, but Greene hopes to increase that number to keep students on campus.