Instead of worrying about the usual exams, papers, and lack of sleep, the junior class’s biggest concern this week was entering Furman’s housing lottery in hopes of ensuring a spot in the North Village apartments for the upcoming semester.
After Furman’s Department of Housing and Residence Life sent out an email stating that 150 juniors would have to live in dorms next semester, juniors anxiously anticipated their housing assignments. Judging from the sounds of excited shrieks or slamming doors, the housing lottery proved to be a blessing or a curse depending on whether the students were given an apartment or not.
“The housing lottery generates random numbers and it is solely luck of the draw,” said Jud Sammons, Assistant Director for Administration, at a meeting for the juniors who did not get apartments.
“It is a heartless process that only takes seniority into account,” Sammons said.
Housing and Residence Life explained to the 150 juniors who were not assigned North Village apartments that the university needed to assign them to live in dorms for financial reasons. Essentially, in keeping overflow housing at The Vinings to the bare minimum, Furman can generate more revenue on campus.
“If we rolled more seniors to The Vinings and every junior up to the apartments, that would leave 150 empty beds on campus,” Sammons said. “It would cost to give everyone what they want.”
“What you don’t know is that some juniors have always been in the residence halls,” said Ron Thompson, Director of Housing and Residence Life. “It is not necessarily about money, but about sticking to our promise of housing people on campus all four years.”
The juniors who did not get placed into apartments were told that they are now on a waiting list to be in the apartments next semester, but Housing said the likelihood of getting an apartment will depend on the size of the upcoming freshman class.
“The freshman class is looking to come in small,” Sammons said. “It is like a domino effect.”
This means that a large freshman class will push the juniors out of the dorms and into the apartments and consequently the seniors into The Vinings.
Many juniors who did not get apartments are dealing with the frustration of potentially being separated from their peers in North Village and are pushing for explanations and changes from Housing.
Rising senior Jessica Mena currently lives in the dorms as a junior because of the lottery system. She described her living situation as not optimal but not bad.
“It was frustrating at first, but Housing really worked with us. It is hard being separated from the rest of the junior class, but I am still living with the people that I intended to,” Mena said.
Her biggest advice to juniors who did not get apartments is not to worry and have patience with the system, advice that Housing echoed.
“We inherited a system that we don’t love and are trying to make better for the future,” Sammons said.