When people buy a lottery ticket, they know that the odds of winning aren’t very high. But when students get a housing lottery number, they think that guarantees them a choice in where they live. Last week, Capital students found out that was not the case.
The housing lottery, where undergraduate students pick the houses or residence halls they want to live in next year, was filled for the second year in a row before every student had picked a room. Students were placed on one of two lists- a waiting list, where they have a room, but it is not the one they really prefer, and a holding list, where they currently have no room at all. Jennie Smith, the Director of Residential and Commuter life, explained the process.
“The holding list develops once we ‘fill’ beds. We reserve a specific amount of beds each year before the lottery, with some left out for the incoming freshman. This year, we reserved more beds than ever before, but we also had more juniors and seniors living on campus than ever before,” Smith said.
Smith also highlighted that Capital now has more options than in previous years that may have made living on campus more attractive to upper classmen, such as the Trinity apartments and more houses on Sheridan Ave.
“We’ve changed management from properties on Sheridan from our real estate agent to Residence Life. This allows financial aid to apply for students living there, instead of them being labeled as commuters. It is not our goal to say ‘this group should be on campus, and this group shouldn’t’. Every student who needs a bed will get a bed,” Smithsaid.
Despite the promise of rooms to come, the lottery remained a frustrating experience for those people who were
put on the holding list. Freshman Katie Cullen found herself in this position. “On the day of the lottery, I was participating in a school function so I couldn’t be present. My roommate for next year waited an hour to get to the front of the line to find out that we would be the first people on the [holding] list because all of the housing was taken,” Cullen said.
Students on the hold list are unsure of where they will be in the next year, and many are concerned despite the fact that all students on the waiting list last year found a place to live. “It was frustrating because I have to move in early next year to assist the music students in orientation, I live out of state, and I have to have on campus housing to keep my scholarships. Not knowing where I am going to live and knowing that I have to meet all of these requirements stressed me out. It just seemed really unorganized. Also, since Sophomores are required to live on campus but they gave all of the dorms away to Seniors and Juniors who didn’t want to live in the Apartments or the Commons or off campus also pissed me off. How do they expect us to live on campus when they don’t give us somewhere to live? Being thrown into this mess, even when I wasn’t present for it, made me annoyed. I personally think they should give lower numbers out to people who live out of state or more than an hour away from campus because they need housing,” Cullen said.
Even though the process was stressful, Cullen had some good things to say about Residence Life.
“When I voiced my annoyance to housing, they did respond somewhat promptly and adequately. Hopefully because we are the first people on the waiting list, we will find out where we are living soon. It’s just been a very stressful and chaotic process,” Cullen said.
Junior Mark Mullen was on the holding list last year, and recalls the issues it presented for him.
“It was the most aggravating experience I’ve ever had at Capital. It made me feel helpless and overlooked. I was mad to have no choice in my housing, and to top it off, they placed us in a Greek hall with some of the worst people I’ve ever lived with. We had our door vandalized and puked on. I had my clothes vandalized when they were in the dryer. It was terrible. I moved out after spending a semester there. I couldn’t get out fast enough,” Mullen said.
Smith knows that this process can be a lot for students to handle. “I understand the anxiety associated with this. This year, we did the lottery early so that we can hopefully get this all resolved before students leave for the summer. We have a group that meets weekly about capacity on campus. We stay up to date on this so that students can be placed in a timely manner. Whatever they need, we will provide,” Smith said.
Many students wonder how rooms open up. Sometimes a smaller freshman class comes in than expected, and that can open rooms. Students may choose to move off campus, which would also open rooms. And new this year, students could pick housing before registering for classes. So if a student does not register for classes by June 1, they could be moved to the holding list and have someone from the holding list moved into their room.
Anyone that has questions about their housing status is encouraged to contact Residence Life at residencelife@capital.edu. Residence Life also has an open door policy, so any student may come in and ask questions at any time.
