Concerns about the fairness of a proposed change in the first-year housing assignment system prompted administrators to seek student input over the summer before resubmitting the proposal to the Office of the Vice President and Provost.
The new system would attempt to diversify first-year residence halls by randomly assigning students who choose the "first-year housing" option to either the McCormick or Alderman Road areas, rather than allowing them to choose between the two.
"The proposal is based on an observation that a higher percentage of African-American students reside in the Alderman area as compared to McCormick," said Director of Housing Mark Doherty.
After the proposal originally was submitted early last summer, administrators expressed concern about potentially negative student reactions to the change, Associate Provost Shirley Menaker said. The Ad Hoc Committee on Student Concerns and Enrollment, which Menaker chaired, was formed to address such concerns.
The committee solicited student opinions on the proposal during the Leadership 2000 Conference over the summer. During the annual conference, student leaders meet with faculty and administrators to discuss University concerns.
After determining that student reaction to the proposal was predominantly positive, the committee resubmitted the proposal in late summer.
Under the new system, incoming first years could select "traditional first-year areas," Brown College, Hereford College, International Residential College or Echols and Rodman Scholars Houses.
In addition, the date the admissions application is received would no longer be used to determine housing assignment priority.
Jason Allevato, a second-year Resident Assistant in the McCormick Road residence area, said he supports the proposal.
"Just since move-in day, I have noticed significantly fewer African-American, Indian, Asian, Hispanic, and international students than when I lived in [the Alderman Road residence area]," he said. If the new system is implemented, "all first-year students will now have opportunities to meet and interact daily with students of all backgrounds, as should be expected of universities of the highest caliber."
First-year Alderman Road resident Jeff Anderson said he also noticed a disparity between the racial composition of the McCormick and Alderman Road residence areas but does not agree with the proposed changes to the housing assignment system.
"While it would be nice to integrate the races more, I feel that the [New Dorm] suite style and the [Old Dorm] hallway style differ enough to constitute a student selecting which one better suits their desired living style," Anderson said.
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