Complaints concerning on-campus housing have been piling up over the past few years and the University has finally stepped up to address them. As of Fall 2008 freshmen triples will be a thing of the past and upperclassmen will be provided with improved housing options.
This will all be achieved in a financially sound way by utilizing existing structures and unused space. It will also keep with the theme of “green” in that the new building will be constructed using eco-friendly materials and practices.
The administrators who collaborated to form this well thought-out plan must be given due credit.
But there are a number of flaws in the plan that can be easily fixed if the administration follows through on its promise to listen to student feedback and take students’ concerns into consideration. While it may be a generally solid plan of action, there remains a handful of shortcomings within it: all of which merit a second look.
Topping this list is the complaint that upperclassmen will not have the opportunity to live in a single room. If administration is looking to attract upperclassmen, particularly seniors who have dealt with three years of roommates, they must realize that autonomous living would be the attraction. Beach life may offer the students the opportunity to live right in the middle of things, but on-campus living should provide opportunities to get away from it. The issue can be dealt be with by the simple act of building a few walls in the garden apartments and St. Ignatius Hall suites.
Putting in the extra effort and, in turn, the extra money, could really solve the problem of disgruntled campus residents. Thus, student opinions must be sought and students must be willing to give informed input.
Students will probably make it immediately clear that the extinction of townhouse basements will totally alter the social climate at Fairfield- and not for the better. Unfortunately, the possibility of this valid complaint being taken seriously is pretty small. While basement parties – for years a staple of social life at Fairfield – will be missed, it would be hard for the University to justify keeping un-finished space solely for the purpose of Saturday night beirut games.
That’s why in general, the outline of the plan makes sense. But a bit of extra effort and some collaboration could make the difference between a living situation that is merely improved and one that is ideal.
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