Students Disappointed with Summer Housing
Students enrolled in the Summer semester have expressed disappointment with the limited housing options, which were announced on Friday, February 19.
The only dorms available for students to live in during the summer term are Lee Hall, Whitman Hall, and Rebert Hall. These are traditionally first-year living options so many students were surprised and confused to learn that these were their only options for the summer.
Reagan Collier-Hogan, Class of 2022, said she was frustrated that she only has the option to live in first-year dorms as a junior.
“SLU was the one to decide the transition into trimesters,” she said, “I don’t understand why they would do that if they don’t have the actual resources to accommodate us.”
Collier-Hogan also said she was disappointed with the lack of transparency of the news, given the number of opportunities that the junior class lost this year.
Lauren Arthaud, Class of 2022 President, listened to frustrations like Collier-Hogan’s and set up a meeting with Dr. Christopher Marquart, Assistant Dean of Student Life and Director of Residence Life and Housing, and Ms. Stacie Olney LaPierre, Senior Associate Director of Residence Life, to gain clarity into the living situation. She sent out a summative email to the Class of 2022 on Tuesday.
In the email, Arthaud said the purpose of the email was to discuss concerns from the members of the Class of 2022, as well as hear Residence Life’s reasoning behind choosing the dorms.
According to Arthaud’s summary in the email, several dorms on campus are in need of capital projects on a “deferred maintenance” schedule. This schedule is “relatively set-in-stone” and restricts the availability of living spaces due to time and conditions for the maintenance.
The Suites, Townhouses, and Dean Eaton all have scheduled deferred maintenance this summer, according to Arthaud’s email. Sykes, on the other hand, will be used for non-academic students, including student employees, research fellows, and international students.
The email also notes that the housing accommodations were not considered until the beginning of the 2nd semester, and the discussion on the deferred maintenance needed this summer did not happen until February 2. The information about summer term housing was released shortly after.
Natalie Piper, also Class of 2022, said she was frustrated that the school announced this news after class registration, as students already had to decide whether they wanted to do classes in person or online.
Piper said this boils down to SLU not taking students’ mental health seriously.
“I don’t know what more needs to happen for them to realize that they are not doing enough for students,” she said, “the quality of life they are providing for us is not worth the money they make us pay. Just because they meet the bare minimum of a place to sleep and a meal plan doesn’t mean they are actually taking care of us.”
According to Arthaud’s email, the university will not lower the cost of tuition any further despite the limited housing options. They are still discussing meal plan solutions for the summer.