Students who lived in Bread Loaf, the Marriott or the Inn on the Green in the fall will be eligible to participate in an advanced housing selection process on April 13, prior to the rest of their peers.
Those who lived in any of these residences for four or more weeks will be able to select from all senior and junior housing options available a week prior to the regular senior and junior housing selection process. These housing options will include suites and townhouses as long as the group can completely fill each bed in the space.
This housing selection option was offered as an incentive for students who had to live off campus due to over-enrollment in the fall. Dean of Students Derek Doucet said in an email last summer that the college had around 330 more students enrolled than in a typical year. This led to 63 students being assigned housing at Bread Loaf, 15 students being assigned housing in the Marriott Hotel and 20 at the Inn on the Green at the start of the year.
The college struggled to fill spots at Bread Loaf through volunteers, and students who were not already assigned during the housing lottery had no housing choices other than Bread Loaf if they wanted to attend classes on campus during the fall semester.
Despite the college’s hope for housing at Bread Loaf to offer a “vibrant, active, and connected student community,” many students living at the satellite campus were unhappy with the isolation and commute. Several moved back onto the main campus as soon as opportunities became available, hoping to live closer to peers and classes. Students who moved out of Bread Loaf, the Marriott or the Inn prior to the four week mark are not eligible to receive housing during the advanced selection period.
In an email to The Campus, Assistant Director of Housing Operations Courtney Savage said that ResLife will not be able to determine the total number of students involved in the priority housing selection until the application closes on April 10. Students participating in the priority group will either be students who lived at one of the off-campus housing locations or the friends they pulled into their housing group.
According to Savage, information regarding the specifics of the housing process will be clearly laid out in an email that will be sent out to participants the week before April 13. There will also be an information session that students can attend on April 7.
Students that lived at Bread Loaf are excited about the upcoming housing process. Ethan Moss ’23 lived at Bread Loaf throughout the fall semester and J-Term, only moving out this spring. Bread Loaf was not his first choice for housing and he ended up living there due to the limited spaces available on campus. Moss sees the priority housing selection as an upside to the Bread Loaf housing situation.
“I think that it’s definitely fair,” Moss said. “We were given priority housing for this semester too for when we moved back onto campus. I think it’s really nice that they are giving us the option to have good housing for an entire year.”
