When sophomore Jacqueline Mylroie’s roommate withdrew from Fairfield earlier this semester, Mylroie, who lived in a forced triple her freshman year, found herself in an ideal living situation for the rest of the year.
“I thought, ‘Great, now I have a single and space to breathe,'” she said.
After letting her RA know that her roommate had moved out, Mylroie discovered that her second semester living situation might not be so ideal.
She first received an e-mail from Jennifer Hodges, area coordinator for Regis and Jogues halls, explaining that rooms in Jogues were being consolidated in an effort to de-triple.
“It took my RA to explain the whole situation to me as the e-mail was not exactly precise about the whole situation,” Mylroie said. She said she was given two options: she could move into a different room with another upperclassman, or a freshman could move into her current room.
Mylroie eventually chose to live in Jogues with a senior foreign exchange student, who was also living in a single.
“I personally believe that it is wrong to separate freshmen from their classmates, and it takes away from bonding with the people you will spend the next four years with,” Mylroie said. “Placing freshmen in Jogues will only isolate them and detract from their experiences as freshmen.”
Kaitlin Stern ’10, who recently moved into Jogues with another freshman, disagrees.
“I don’t feel isolated because I see my friends just as much as I did in my old room,” she said.
When given the option to de-triple, Stern was able to choose between a room in Dolan, Kostka or Jogues. “I thought living in Kostka might have meant living with a sophomore,” she said. “But I was told if I moved into Jogues they would move two sophomores with singles in together and that I would get to choose another freshman to room with there.”
Though Mylroie said she understands the trials of living in a forced triple her freshman year. She views the experience in a unique way.
“I see living in a triple as a right of passage and a learning experience in figuring out the best way to get along with people your own age,” she said.
However, Mylroie said the Office of Residence Life has made an effort to keep freshmen together in these dorms.
“Our office has tried to create pockets of class communities in Claver and Jogues halls in order to not isolate students from their classmates,” said Deb Cady, director of Residence Life.
According to Cady, approximately 45 percent of the class of 2010 lived in “converted room assignments” at the beginning of the year.
As of Feb. 15, the number was down to approximately 25 percent. In Gonzaga and Dolan halls, some freshmen and sophomores have moved into rooms together, Cady said.
Freshman Boris Romanovsky was living in a triple with other freshmen and chose to move into a room in Gonzaga with one of his swimming and diving teammates.
“I don’t feel separated [from my class] at all because our floor is half freshmen,” he said.
Cady realizes, though, that this type of housing is not typical for students on the quad.
“Although mixed class housing is not ideal for students here at Fairfield, all spaces available on campus are viable for students to move into,” she said. “It is not possible for students to maintain a double room as a single when so many members of the class of 2010 are still living in over-crowded conditions.”
Stern said she prefers living in a sophomore dorm. “It gives me much more peace and quiet to get my word done,” she said. “I feel, because the sophomores have cars, they are not always here and that makes the dorm a lot quieter.”
Mylroi, though, said despite all she’s gone through, she’s content with her situation.
“I’m as happy as one can be when they had the perfect room situation and now must readjust mid-semester,” she said.
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