Woody House residents are pushing for compensation from the University's housing division for inconveniences they suffered this year.
The first-year residents filed a petition last week seeking priority on-Grounds housing registration for next year as reparation for difficulties the students faced during their mid-year move to the new facility.
The housing division, however, is "not willing to consider priority registration as a solution in the future," Evans said. "We will look for other solutions that will not be unfair to other students."
The new Woody residence hall initially was scheduled to open at the beginning of the year, but construction delays forced new students to live in triples in other Alderman Road residence halls until Nov. 11.
Drafted by Woody House Council Secretary Melody Han, the petition cites the "inconveniences of living in a triple" as one reason why residents should receive compensation.
Other reasons why many Woody residents feel priority registration is justified include a "fragmentation and lack of unity" among the students, the inconvenience of moving mid-semester and physical problems with the new dorm itself.
Problems ranged from a lack of hot water for several weeks, to motion-sensing lighting in the study lounges that would shut off when students tried to study, to a lack of peepholes on residents' doors, Han said.
Many students complained that even after the confusing moving process, students had to deal with ongoing construction as workers fixed many problems with the facility.
"Workers have been coming into rooms unannounced," Woody resident Darren Kelly said. "I think the University should make some kind of reparation for what we've been going through this year."
About 100 of the 140 Woody House residents signed the petition, House Council President Vivek Taneja said.
Last year, residents of Dunnington and Fitzhugh received priority housing registration, in response to a student petition, Director for Accommodations John Evans said.
The residents filed the petition seeking compensation for construction disturbances.
It would not be possible to consider priority registration for housing as a solution for the Woody residents because the petition was filed so close to the Phase III registration deadline, Evans said. Phase III is the stage in which first years who wish to live on Grounds the following year submit applications.
"We tried to be as supportive as possible for the students that had to move in late," he said.
Woody residents only had to pay 85 percent of the normal housing fee for both semesters, and were given free use of a microwave/refrigerator combination unit as compensation for their inconvenience.
Read More
MLK III to focus on youth participation in politics as professor of practice
By Ford McCracken | 14 hours agoRestrictive voting laws are only one problem with voting today, according to King — the other is voter apathy. King even called the level of voter participation in U.S. elections “abysmal.”
New School of Data Science building opens with remarks and ceremony
By Cecilia Mould | YesterdayThe four-story, 61,000 square-foot building includes four classrooms and two seminar rooms, as well as a two-story central hub for hosting events.
Democratic Futures Project fellow Félix Maradiaga announces campaign to end arbitrary detention
By Caroline Hagood | YesterdayA public website for the campaign launched Friday, which Maradiaga says is the first step towards raising awareness.
