Every year, 47 lucky and qualified students are offered the chance of a lifetime: to live on the Lawn. In past years, the residents of remaining Lawn rooms and one Range room have been chosen by organizations separate from the Lawn Selection Committee. This process, however, will soon change, as the Lawn selection process is reverting back to its historical precedent.
According to Patricia Lampkin, vice president for student affairs, prospective residents of three Lawn rooms and one Range room -- consistently awarded to members of the Jefferson Society, Kappa Sigma fraternity, Trigon Engineering Society and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity respectively -- will now apply with the larger Lawn applicant pool.
The key to understanding the change, Lampkin said, lies in the difference between an "endowed" room and a room with "an administrative agreement in place." The four rooms affected by the change, according to Lampkin, are those with an administrative agreement, a non-legally binding yearly contract between the organization in question and the University, which reserves a Lawn or Range room for a member of that organization now chosen by the Lawn Selection Committee. The three remaining rooms -- traditionally known as the Honor Committee Room, the Chris Bell Room and the Scott Room -- are endowed and are not affected by the changes, Lampkin added, as they are legally protected.
Lampkin said the changes are more in line with the original intention of the administrative agreements and enhance both the fairness and transparency of the application process.
Dean of Students Allen Groves said, "historically, these groups were required to participate in the normal selection process just like everyone else," adding that the changes bring about a renewed sense of equity among applicants.
Apart from the endowed Lawn rooms and their residents, all prospective Lawn residents must be evaluated by the Lawn Selection Committee. The administratively agreed-upon rooms initially will be reserved for members of the organizations selected by the committee. If more than one member of an organization -- for example, the Jefferson Society -- is given a Lawn room, the organization will have an opportunity to select which qualified applicant will reside in the organization's room.
"There is an additional prestige to be honored by the group with a room," Lampkin said.
Lampkin said if no applicant from an organization is considered qualified by the Lawn Selection Committee, then the organization will have the chance to nominate a member for its Lawn or Range room.
Groves said if such an instance was to occur, he would consider the group's nominee and decide whether the candidate is appropriately qualified.
Lampkin noted, however, that this option is a possibly temporary compromise meant to appease the organizations affected by the change. Still, it is possible, Lampkin said, for one of the four administrative agreement rooms to be given to a non-organization member under the new system.
Jack Walker, resident of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity's 47 West Range room, said he is completely in favor of the changes, as he believes they will make the application process more transparent.
"I don't want people to think that the people living in the ... rooms are not qualified," Walker said. "Hopefully, this will make people recognize that the people living in the rooms are just as qualified as other Lawn residents."
All affected parties, however, are not in full support of the revised application process.
Alexander Clark, resident of the Jefferson Society's 7 East Lawn room, said he is disappointed in the changes being brought about so quickly, with little warning at the end of the fall semester. He also noted that the administrative agreement made by the Jefferson Society several decades ago is not entirely clear, leaving room for further interpretation and discussion.
For now, though, the changes appear to have been made.
"This will bring things into consistency and allow a baseline for qualification," Lampkin said.
-- Tom Madrecki contributed to this article.
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