Responding to an apparently inordinate number of students who missed the deadline to enter the housing lottery, the Office of Residential Life has extended the entrance deadline, according to an e-mail posted on its Web site. Students who enter the lottery by March 20 will still have the opportunity to select housing, though not until all students who entered on time have selected first.
The e-mail, sent yesterday by Assistant Director of Residential Life Rosario Navarro to all individuals who did not enter the lottery, points out that while most students did successfully enter the lottery, ResLife received several complaints that changes to the lottery, coupled with the 9 a.m., March 13, deadline, caused confusion. As a result, instead of putting those students on the housing waitlist, ResLife will give them a second opportunity to select housing, albeit in a different segment with fewer options.
The second segment will start immediately after the end of the normal lottery, which will run from March 20 to March 22, according to the e-mail.
According to Justin Glavis-Bloom '07, chair of the Residential Council's Lottery Committee, ResLife staff held a two-hour "emergency meeting" yesterday before calling Glavis-Bloom and ResCouncil Chair Brendan Hargreaves '06 to ask for their opinions.
"There were a lot of students who approached ResLife and e-mailed me - more so than in previous years," Glavis-Bloom said. "We all agreed there was a problem and that this was a good solution."
"Our office is confident that the lottery information was thorough and accurate and that the information was disseminated in multiple formats including our Web site, posters, information sessions and e-mails," Navarro wrote in the e-mail. "However we recognize that some students may have missed the deadline." ResLife officials could not be reached for comment last night.
Glavis-Bloom said it was unclear exactly how many students missed the deadline because some students who do not enter the lottery are seeking off-campus housing or transferring out of Brown.
According to the e-mail, the lottery application will be posted online again today at 5 p.m and must be turned in by Monday, March 20 at 5 p.m. Lottery numbers for new entrants will be posted in Wayland Arch the following day.
