A change in the composition of applicants and noise complaints have prompted the Office of Residential Life to move substance-free and quiet housing locations for next year. These special interest housing blocs will join the all-female and 21-plus housing on Pembroke campus, consolidating all special-interest housing to one campus area. But some substance-free residents say the location has led them to decline their spaces in sub-free housing.
Quiet housing will be on the first floor of Miller Hall and fourth floor of Metcalf Hall as of September, due to complaints about noise from residents in its current location in New Dorm. Substance-free housing will move from Champlin and Barbour halls, where it was located this year, to New Pembroke 2 and the third floor of Metcalf Hall in the fall. All-female and 21-plus housing will remain unchanged - all-female housing will be located in Andrews Hall and on the fourth floor of New Pembroke 4, and Miller will house 21-plus.
In a new ResLife policy implemented last year, students interested in special-interest housing apply in a pre-lottery process and are given the option to either accept the assigned housing or enter the lottery. Previously, rooms designated for special-interest housing were available to students in the housing lottery - New Pembroke 1 had historically been reserved for quiet housing, while New Pembroke 2 was designated as substance-free housing.
New Pembroke 1 will be offered in the lottery as sophomore-only housing.
"The most important criteria for ResLife and (Residential Council) this year was keeping communities together," said Justin Glavis-Bloom '07, chair of ResCouncil. "Last year, we were forced to split up substance-free and heard from many students that they were dissatisfied with the community being fractured."
ResCouncil determined special-interest housing locations based on which houses could accommodate the total number of applicants.
Students had mixed reviews about the relocation. Of the 61 applicants for substance-free housing this year, 21 students confirmed placement in either the third floor of Metcalf or New Pembroke 2, while the remaining 40 opted to try their luck in the housing lottery.
This year, ResLife received 28 applications for quiet housing and nine requests for female-only housing.
Grace Yuen '10 lived in all-female housing in Andrews Hall this year and decided to re-apply for all-female housing. "I did it this year because my parents wanted me to," she said. "But I applied this year in hopes of getting a single, and I did."
Eric Gastfriend '10 opted for substance-free housing as a first-year because he does not drink or smoke. "I feel more comfortable around other people who are also not into that," he said. "It's nice to live in a place where drinking and smoking are not part of the culture, not to mention (it's) cleaner and quieter."
Gastfriend re-applied for substance-free housing this year but decided to not take the room when he found out it would be located in New Pembroke.
"They're basically the worst dorms on campus, so my chances for better housing only improve by going into the lottery," he said. "I think it's a shame that sub-free gets the bottom of the barrel when program houses get the same nice dorms year after year."
Gastfriend said he wants the University to put more resources into substance-free housing. When the University is investing in alcohol-free activities through the Late Night Fund, he said substance-free housing deserves more support - "If they really value sobriety, why can't they make a commitment to sub-free?" he asked.
Putzer Hung '10 said he wasn't sure whether he wanted to live in substance-free housing last summer when he requested to live in the substance-free hall for first-years in Perkins Hall. But he said it turned out to be a good choice because residents there are more homogeneous than at any other unit.
Glavis-Bloom also attributed the popularity of substance-free housing to the community it fosters. "It has become more popular, primarily because the University began offering substance-free housing to first-years," he said. "First-years create a community that stays together as they become sophomores, juniors and seniors."
But Hung said the new locations will hinder the community dynamic. "We feel we can't have the same sense of community here at Perkins in New Pembroke next year," he said. "It's not only me, but most of the sub-free residents this year are dissatisfied with the dorm we got placed in, so many of us are willing to try out the lottery instead."
