Twenty-one years ago this week, students engaged in the all-too-familiar college divertissement of worrying about housing. As the stress of room draw is currently looming ahead, it is of interest to examine how students at the College have handled the matter in the past. This week in 1982 marks the beginning of a process which has since undergone drastic changes.

"When the bells atop Johnson Chapel toll this Saturday afternoon, freshmen will again rush to their newly adopted houses. In the interim, however, fraternities and their prospective members must anxiously wait out a regulated exchange of bids and replies," The Student reported.

Rather than entering a lottery in groups of one to eight as the current system demands, students rushed fraternities and nervously waited to hear if they had received a bid which would provide them with housing. Freshmen were allowed approximately 24 hours to receive a bid and accept, and the complicated process we know as room draw was resolved in a much shorter amount of time than it is now.

James Bishop, dean of students at the time, assured everyone, however, that all students would be guaranteed housing "regardless of their participation in rush." Bishop himself expressed some anxiety about the process, stating, "I hope those responsible for rush activities will take preventative steps to avoid accidents due to alcohol consumption or just plain exhaustion," The Student reported.

Alas, the tension of room selection appears to be a rare constant between the process in 1982 and selection now. Today, a new kind of anxiousness pervades the campus as theme housing applications and hopes for anything from a nice single in Moore to a cozy four-room suite in Davis or a much-coveted Hamilton room replace bids for fraternities. Nonetheless, a student at the College provided some good advice which transcends time, stating that "Friendships should come first above all other considerations."