Regis Hall may look the same from the outside, but this year the inside has been changed up. Women now occupy the ground floor, a floor usually designated for undergraduate men.
“It’s different having girls on the ground floor,” said Michelle Gingras, a Regis RA.
Gingras said she was “very surprised” that the University moved females to the ground floor.
“It’s the first time I have seen girls on the ground floor since I have been here,” she said.
As to why the University moved the women to the ground floor this year, Gingras said that it was a result of there being more girls than guys in the enrollment process.
Ophelie Rowe-Allen, area coordinator for Regis said, “[Regis ground floor] is a safe place to live and depending on student needs, we place students on all floors throughout campus.”
“The Residence Life would never place a student in a place that is unsafe,” she said. “We house all students, regardless of sex, on the ground floor across campus.”
Rowe-Allen also said that the well-trained RA and additional safety training play an important role in keeping the women safe.
Extra measures have also been taken as safety precautions.
“Deb Cady has worked with Michelle Gingras to make window stoppers for the windows that allow air to enter the room but only allow the window to be opened approximately four inches,” said Rowe-Allen.
She said she hopes for the windows to be installed in the next few weeks.
Todd Pelazza, director of Public Safety, said, “Females have occupied the ground floor of resident halls for some time.”
He said that the department encourages those who live on the ground floor to keep windows locked when not in the room.
Gingras said that there have been no problems so far this year and it was the easiest move in she’s had in her two years of being an RA.
Ground floor resident, Josephine Amendola ’11 said, “The priest who lived on the other side [of the dorm] told us that we were the first girls to live on a ground floor.”
“We are not by the parking lot like some of the other rooms are,” she said.
Katrine Driscoll’11 lives in a room close to the parking lot. Driscoll said that over-crowding caused girls to be placed on the formally all-male floor, which was originally supposed to be for males.
“I personally don’t worry about it, I probably should,” she said.
“The RA told us to lock the doors and not go anywhere alone. The only time we have [the blinds] open is during the day,” she said.
“If we are changing or it’s the night we shut the blinds,” said Amendola.
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