While it’s difficult to recall a time when the Fairfield University campus was not peppered with small construction projects, the idea of a new dorm in the quad is a welcome one.
The massive revamping of the Barone Campus Center and DiMenna Nyselius Library were necessary and appreciated additions to campus. However, the seemingly endless changes to various parking lots and roads, the construction of the boulevard, and the current construction of the Kelley admissions building seem as though they should be secondary to the resolution of the housing crunch on campus. While these changes are aesthetically pleasing, ultimately, they do little to improve the day-to-day life of Fairfield students.
After many years of cramped housing, a new dorm to accommodate the University’s student population is an absolute necessity. In recent years, more and more freshmen have been forced into triples and lounges, and townhouses, originally meant to accommodate four or six students have been filled, instead, with five and seven.
While we realize that plans for the new dormitory are still in the preliminary stages, we hope that the new dorm, once begun, will be completed in a more timely fashion than the new admissions building, which more than six months into construction is showing little visible progress.
While a dirt pile at the end of the quad is not such an eyesore as one by the boulevard in the center as campus, it, and the noise of the construction, would be a hindrance to life in the quad.
However, the key to the success of this project ultimately lies in relieving cramped housing conditions and not using the new dormitory as an opportunity to increase the number of admitted students.
Administrators have claimed that the ultimate goal of the new dorm is not to increase the number of students on campus, and we hope they hold true to their promise. If even more construction is going to be done, it is imperative that the entire student body will be able to feel the positive effects.
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