Student Council is scheduled to vote next week on a resolution protesting a plan to eliminate entering first-year students' ability to choose to reside in either old or new dorms.
An enrollment committee of University officials proposed changing the first-year housing process to increase diversity in first-year dormitories.
Council representatives Justin Pfeiffer, Adam Swann and Christina White drafted the resolution, which admonishes the lack of student involvement in drawing up the proposal and strongly opposes the proposal itself.
Council will vote on the resolution after debate and the opportunity to make amendments Tuesday.
Even if the measure passes, it may not change University policy. Council President Joe Bilby declined to speculate on how much influence the proposed resolution would have and stressed that the resolution, at this point, is only a proposal.
Still, Pfeiffer said he thinks the resolution will pass because "most students believe there is a significant enough difference between the [two residence areas] in terms of geographic location and physical setup."
He called the administration's proposal a form of "social engineering."
But Asst. Dean of Students Aaron Laushway, a member of the enrollment committee, said the committee consulted a wide variety of people throughout the University, including students from several different organizations.
"The proposal is based on discussions involving different members of administrations from across the University and evolving out of conversations with students from various constituencies," Laushway said. "The spirit behind the proposal was to address offerings to incoming first-year students about programmatic choices within the first-year experience."
These residential offerings include Hereford College, Brown College and the future International Residence College, as well as the traditional first-year residence halls.
If the resolution passes, it could look very different from the proposed draft that was introduced this week, Council Executive Vice President Matt Madden said.
Council may vote on changing the wording of the resolution and may add or strike amendments, Madden said.
The final product is intended to represent the best interests of the student body rather than the feelings of an isolated group of Council members, he said.
The ad hoc committee that wrote the proposal to change the first-year housing application process is composed of five administrators and no students.
The proposal now is in the hands of William W. Harmon, vice president for student affairs, Provost Peter W. Low, and Executive Vice President Leonard W. Sandridge.
Sandridge, Harmon or Low could enact the new policy with the enrollment of the next first-year class.
Although Council's resolution criticizes eliminating the choice between old and new dorms, it supports other parts of the housing proposal, including the use of a random assignment process.
The University now assigns housing to first-year students according to the order in which it receives deposits from the entering class.
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