Old Housing Policies Return after Students Complain
By Hanna A. Gordola

One student’s effort to change housing policy just paid off.

Sophomore Elisabeth Pascale started a petition against Housing’s plans to change next year’s recontracting process. Housing announced in mid-January that rising freshmen and sophomores would get housing priority. The reason was to encourage juniors and seniors to live in the newer and more expensive Ram Village on South Campus.

But, more than 500 students signed an online petition. And of that number, more than 100 students left comments in the petition urging housing officials and Chancellor Moeser to return old housing policies which gave upperclassmen housing priority.

Pascale said that rising juniors and seniors should get first dibs.

"I felt that it was a disrespect to seniority,” Pascale said. “And I felt that it was going to be really difficult for upperclassmen on South Campus to be able to move to North Campus or dorms that they would prefer."

Housing officials said they appreciated the comments in the online petition and are now giving priority to upperclassmen once again.