Luigi DiMeglio/The Mirror
The familiar sophomore housing options of five living and learning communities is a thing of the past, as the two residential colleges in Claver Hall are being incorporated into other communities only two years after their start.
Rising sophomores can now apply for both Village housing options without submitting a residential college application. This is in addition to those vying to live in Jogues Hall, which has never been an official living and learning community.
The decision to eliminate the only residential colleges in The Village housing area was reached after a process of collecting feedback from a variety of people involved such as residents, FUSA, IRHA and RCC representatives, professors, faculty chairpersons, mentors and staff, according to an email from Associate Dean of Students and Director of Student Development, Dr. Joseph DeFeo.
Several serious issues have stood in the way of another year for the Leadership in the Ignatian Tradition and the Environment residential colleges, which were described by DeFeo in an email sent to members of the residential college committee during winter break.
These challenges involved the quantity of faculty, courses and mentors needed to maintain a complete program. According to Defeo, they were problems that could not be fixed in the short term.
With 90 mentors staffing the residential college program as a whole this year, the available positions in residence halls outside Claver will be in high demand next semester. For Christopher Johnson, a mentor who is completing his first year with the Environmental Residential College, continuing with the program is simply a matter of hope.
Leading up to the decision to cut Claver Hall residential colleges, mentors and other staff may have overlooked some obstacles including financial concerns and student apathy.
True to the administration’s promise of limited impact on student life from the budget deficit, “financial concerns were not even brought up when we made the decision,” said DeFeo. He added, “Human resources and spatial resources were the major concerns. Financial ones were a piece that were not in focus.”
Lack of student involvement was not an issue found on the committee’s list, though it is what Claver Hall resident Chris DelVeccio ‘14 considers the biggest obstacle.
“The whole idea [of residential colleges] has great intentions but no one is interested. People just want to live in Claver,” said DelVeccio. “The environment in Claver is more interested in partying and having fun so the program doesn’t work here.”
Still, DeFeo did note that residents in Claver were substantially more engaged in the program this year compared to the year prior.
Meanwhile, the party life does not seem to have made a difference for living and learning communities beyond The Village.
The three residential colleges that have escaped elimination are those housed in Loyola Hall, 70 McCormick Road, and 42 Bellermine Road -a result that DeFeo says is not an attempt to increase the appeal of the colleges with newer buildings. “That’s just the University’s way of putting resources towards what it values,” he said, adding, “I haven’t heard a graduate remember the amenities of their building compared to the community they were involved in.”
Leave a Reply