Paris Wallace '04, a member of the Student Housing Advisory Committee, the group responsible for coordination of room draw, commented on student sentiment. "Generally people were disappointed ... they had very high expectations. If you study the floor plans you can see that there aren't very many of the huge rooms that people talk about but everyone thinks that they are going to get them, and when they don't they are disappointed," he said.
"The good news is, there will be room for everyone on campus," said Dean of Students Ben Lieber.
Wallace agreed. "After doing a conservative estimate on how many people are going abroad we calculated that there will be about 20 rooms open after all opt outs have been filled, so there is no reason to worry," he said.
Construction is the cause of next year's housing difficulties. "[This year's housing crunch] is clearly not usual … It has to do with dorm construction. North and South [Colleges] are being taken out," said Lieber. "We are taking all of Pratt [Dormitory] for freshmen next year to replace North and South. That takes a number of rooms out that normally go to juniors and seniors."
Another reason many rising sophomores were forced to opt out is that only 10 rising juniors have confirmed plans to study abroad next semester, according to Wallace.
Lieber did not express concern at the low number. "The numbers are usual for this time of year … When people hear from their programs, they get back to us and withdraw from housing, which opens up some rooms," he said. "This is absolutely typical … The number [of students who have reported that they will go abroad] is actually up for next fall from this fall."
More juniors than normal will live in one-room doubles next year, mainly in Williston Hall. This is partially due to the fact that 12 beds in Jenkins Dormitory, typically occupied by seniors, will be unavailable next year. The two suites in the building that house these 12 beds are currently scheduled to be torn down to facilitate the construction of the new geology building.
Wallace emphasized the fact that higher hopes, not worse housing, are largely to blame for dissatisfaction surrounding room draw. "There are just as many opt outs this year as there was my freshmen year. It just seems like a lot because there were none last year," he said. "I think that because last year we had a housing surplus everyone's expectations were really high. But my freshman year it was about the same as this year."