"It's a surprise that we didn't expect. Before room draw, we had taken those suites out of commission," said Betsy Marble, the administrative assistant for residential life. "When we got the word that they wouldn't be taken down, we thought, 'Well, that will make 12 more students very happy.'"
According to Student Housing Advisory Committee (SHAC) member Missy Mordy '03, up until SHAC's April 14 meeting, there was only a slight chance that the rooms would become available.
To participate in the lottery for the suites, students had to have participated in the original room draw process. In addition, they could not have confirmed off-campus, theme housing or study abroad plans. Students who wanted to take part in the lottery had to form groups of six people and turn in a sheet listing individual and group Living Unit Value (LUV) points to the housing office by April 28. "We are thrilled that we are able to inform students and begin in the process while they're still here," said Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life Charri Boykin-East.
According to Boykin-East, it was important that the lottery take place before the end of the year because many students do not go to their permanent home addresses for the summer and because they had the option of forming new groups.
Just as in the original room draw process, groups with the highest LUV totals gained an advantage in the lottery. Groups with the same LUV average were ordered randomly among each other.
The lottery was conducted with no consideration of position on the ordered room draw list.
Those students who participated in this room draw, but do not get the suites, will keep their position on the original room draw list. The two groups at the top of the new room draw list will be contacted today to confirm that they still want the suites.