With the conclusion of a stressful housing draw, many juniors are left without housing for the fall semester and await the August draw process.
In an email to juniors, ResLife said that a number of rooms are held for accommodations and emergencies and that not everyone will be able to select a space this spring. However, they also mentioned that they do not anticipate using Bread Loaf or the Marriott again, as they did this past fall.
In an email to The Campus, Associate Dean for Student Life AJ Place said that Inn on the Green “may be used if absolutely necessary, but we currently do not anticipate using it.” Place also said that ResLife doesn’t have the number of students awaiting housing yet and cannot say which spaces will be available, since they have to work through accommodations requests first.
Many juniors were hoping for singles in the Ross complex or Forest Hall, but instead ended up in doubles or two-room doubles. Kian Lalji ’24 had a middle time slot for the junior housing draw. His top priority was getting a single, but he will now be living in a two-room double in Painter Hall for the entire year.
“A lot of my friends ended up in the August draw, which might be better, but right now it just seems very weird that they wouldn’t tell us beforehand that there’d be this many people in the August draw, considering they probably could’ve guessed that,” Lalji said.
The lack of information and uncertainty is troubling to students in the August draw, like Michael Eller ’24. Eller had a time slot about two thirds of the way through the housing draw, and now has to wait to see what options will become available.
“I wish that we would know a transparent yes or no that wouldn't be wavering about whether the school was intending on using Inn on the Green,” Eller said. “That would let a lot of students know if they should’ve made plans to double up with those last few doubles that were available or seek other arrangements in a special interest house.”
Others like Ryan Heinzerling ’24 avoided the housing draw altogether and opted for special interest housing. Heinzerling is going to live in Brooker, the outdoor interest house, next year. He said he was “definitely drawn by the people I know there, the quality of the housing, and trying to avoid the housing draw, if I’m being totally honest.”
The stress of the housing draw was compounded by registration, which followed a day or two after for many students.
“I think that Midd definitely could have done a better job of [scheduling course registration] at least a week away instead of having one day’s difference,” Lalji said.
Eller expressed disappointment about the housing process this year, especially after forming a group with close friends.
“I’m glad that there’s housing, but I would say it’s not the most ideal housing,” Eller said. “As a junior, the most ideal situation would be to live right next to my close friends who are in my housing group, but unfortunately this is not the case.”
Charlie Keohane ’24 (she/her) is an Editor at Large. She previously served as the SGA Correspondent and a Senior Writer.
She is an environmental writing major and a psychology minor from Northern California. Outside of academics, Charlie is a Senior Admissions Fellow at the Middlebury Admissions Office. She also is involved with the women’s track team and hosts Witching Hour, a radio show on 91.1 WRMC. In Spring 2023, she studied abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, watching Greta Gerwig movies, polar plunging, sending snail mail, and FaceTiming her rescue dog, Poppy.
