ORL plans housing changes
By Camille Thompson
Flat Hat Staff Writer
Residence life has made changes to fraternity row and several special interest houses for next year -- Psi Upsilon will no longer have campus housing and Pi Lambda Phi will be moved into Pleasants Hall first floor to replace the discontinued EcoHouse. In addition, the Arabic House will replace the Italian house.
Psi U and Pi Lam will not have houses on fraternity row next year because they failed to get the required number of occupants under housing contracts by the Feb. 27 deadline.
"All special interest housing have different guidelines and they must, whatever their space is, have 90 percent of spaces occupied and of the total space 80 percent must be occupied by members," Residence Life Director Deb Boykin said.
Psi U has occupied Unit A for the past 15 years, according to Psi U President Tyghe Trimble, a junior. Trimble said that getting enough members to regain campus housing next year will be difficult without a house.
"They're [the Office of Residence Life is] doing their job and their job is a bureaucratic job," Trimble said.
It will be difficult for Psi U to have off campus housing next year, according to Trimble, because of laws governing the number of occupants allowed in rented residences.
Pi Lam had more occupants on their roster than Psi U did, so they will be moved into the space currently occupied by the EcoHouse on the first floor of Pleasants, according to Boykin.
"People criticize [ORL] because we've taken away housing from Psi Upsilon and Pi Lambda Phi, saying we're trying to get rid of fraternities on campus," Boykin said. "Really it's all about the numbers."
It is not yet clear how exactly the vacant fraternity houses will be used, Boykin said, but some of the space might be used for female housing in order to make male housing more available in other areas of campus.
"If you've got 396 men all living in the Fraternity Complex, and Sorority Court only has 170 women, the rest of campus becomes predominately women," Boykin said. "In fairness to our male students who would like to live in a Ludwell apartment, Jefferson, Chandler, the Bryan complex, et cetera, wouldn't it be nice to offer them more spaces there?"
Special interest housing will also undergo changes; the EcoHouse will no longer be a special interest residence.
"The EcoHouse is not being continued, partly because of low numbers in student interest and partly because during budget cuts the funding to support the program was cut," Boykin said.
The Italian house will also be discontinued due to lack of student interest. The Arabic House, recently approved by the Special Interest Housing Committee, will take the Italian House's place on the second floor of Preston Hall.
"The academic special interest houses have guidelines," Boykin said. "In addition to student interest, there must be a faculty advisor and financial support from the academic department to support programs that are part of whatever that special interest is."
Alpha Epsilon Pi, whose College chapter was founded in 2001, was approved to occupy a lodge.
In non-special interest housing, 246 of the 3,186 students who paid the $200 room deposit by the Feb. 14 deadline will be bumped from the lottery, compared to 403 bumped last year.
Of the 246 bumped, 136 will be women and 110 will be men. Further breakdown shows of the women, 73 each will come from the rising sophomore class and the rising junior class. Of the men, 55 will come from both the rising sophomore class and the rising junior class.
The students were selected to be bumped by determining the number of people who paid the deposit and comparing it to the number of spots on campus, then starting with the highest lottery numbers in each class and working backwards until the numbers balanced, according to Boykin.
Rising seniors, students who have lived in the Dillard Complex for a year and students living in forced triples in the Botetourt Complex are automatically exempt from being bumped, according to Boykin.
Madison, Stith, Dupont, Pleasants and Barrett Halls will all undergo renovation this summer. Madison and Stith will be completely renovated: lights, floors, walls, doors and bathrooms will be replaced, among other things, according to Boykin. Dupont Hall will receive energy-saving renovations, such as new shower heads, toilets and other fixtures. Kitchens in Pleasants will be renovated, and the roof of Barrett will be replaced.
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