Who needs a townhouse anyway?

While many students consider the living at beach to be senior privilege, more and more juniors are staking their claim.

According to Director of Housing Operations, Gary Stephenson, this is because of a combination of factors.

“Fairfield has class housing. An open bed in a townhouse or apartment is not a bed that can be filled with a first or second year student. Every year retention projections and numbers are formulated for the next year. The retention numbers, plus the bed inventory are one of the factors that determine how many juniors will be released off campus,” he said.

For many beach dwellers of the junior class, living off campus was a conscious decision.

“We wanted to get a house at the beach because we could live with all of our friends, instead of just some of them in a cramped townhouse with public safety knocking on our door constantly,” said beach resident Sarah Teixeira ’08. “The beach is a much nicer environment. I wake up to hearing the ocean everyday.”

“What is better than living on the water?” said Alyssa Ballard, ’08. “I didn’t want to have to deal with public safety anymore. You are a lot more independent living at the beach.”

Other juniors scrambled to find a beach house after they weren’t offered a townhouse.

“We didn’t get a townhouse and the school told us we were going to have to live in Kostka/Claver or Dolan. We didn’t want to live there again, so we found a beach house as soon as possible,” said Greg Donahue, ’08.

Some of those who moved to the beach as a last resort have mixed feelings about their experience so far.

“Living at the beach has been good so far, but I miss my friends on campus. It was definitely the right choice between having to live in Kostka/Claver or Dolan, but I feel a little isolated out here,” said Steve Liakas ’08.

However, most juniors living at the beach don’t feel like they are missing out on too much on campus.

“There are parties at the beach, so I see all the people I want to see because they all come down here,” said Mariana Rosario ’08.

Another beach dweller, Bobby Edmundowitz ’08, described the townhouses and the beach as “two separate worlds.”

“I feel that all the juniors at the beach are a tight knit group. We can still visit our friends at the townhouses, but all of us at the beach definitely band together,” said Edmundowitz.

Seniors living at the beach seem to have a welcoming attitude toward their new junior neighbors.

“The more the merrier. The way I see it, the more students that live off campus the better,” said Scott Leuffer ’07.

“I’ve always thought that juniors and seniors should have the opportunity to live at the beach. I think it makes the relationship between juniors and seniors a lot better,” said Adam Peterson ’07. “I lived at the beach last year too and was friends with a lot of seniors, which made my junior year great.”

Juniors living on campus seem to be in favor of the idea as well.

“Its better that more juniors live at the beach this year because there are more places for us to go now,” said Dan Raymond ’08.

“I think that if the administration cannot be thoughtful enough to make adequate and privileged housing for those who deserve it after living in dorms for two years ,then they should, by all, means be able to move off campus and not spend their money on over priced room and board from the University,” said Ryan Lee, ’08.