The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Opinions

Mark McNulty

Though I have been impressed by the efforts made by Campus Life to successfully match compatible first-years, and have heard very little about the ills of this process, the plethora of problems regarding the current housing system for students already on campus must be addressed. Despite student attempts to propose fixes for housing, Campus Life has been unresponsive at best, counterproductive at worst; both in altering the housing process this year, and in attempts to remedy the core of the housing problems which have existed for many years.

I still vividly remember my tour of Colby College. It was a beautiful spring day, and I had a wonderful, informative tour guide. As I walked across Frat Row, past Miller Library, and through Dana dining hall, I was informed that there was guaranteed on-campus housing all four years and that housing was not an issue that anyone worried about. I was not aware at the time that these were untruths and I am now conscious of the numerous issues within the housing process. Since then housing issues have intensified and been masked not only to the students but to the alumni, and trustees. It is time for serious change.

At the beginning of this year, a working group headed by the president of the student body, Nicolas Cade, was assembled to address the issues that have been evident within the housing process in previous years. This committee proposed many ideas which the student representatives believed were needed to fix the housing system such as rotations of chem-free housing and fixes for the quota system. However, once the cohesive plan was presented to Campus Life, it was chiseled away at until only a single idea was left. Furthermore, the student representatives responsible for the creation of this proposal were not contacted about the dismantling of their housing plan until February 28. At this meeting they were told that only one idea proposed would be accepted by Campus Life and that all housing change decisions would be finalized by the beginning of March. This left no time for further debate, stymieing the comprehensive efforts of the student body to remedy the troubles regarding chem-free housing, the quota system, and others. The only idea that was eventually adopted by Campus Life was the rotation of chem-free dorms. However, by choosing only what they were in the mood for, Campus Life managed to completely desecrate the effectiveness of the comprehensive integrated plan. This decision, as we have now learned, has only added to the long list of housing quandaries.

Continued...

Page 1 of 6 next >

Article Tools