Although this board has criticized the housing selection process and the general housing options on campus, we also recognize that the individual employees at the Department of Community Living are doing their best to accommodate students’ housing needs in the face of limited resources. 

We recognize that some of these employees are students who are also in the process of securing housing for next year, and we appreciate the effort they put toward helping their peers while simultaneously balancing the worries and difficulties they might have with their own housing. We were concerned to hear that students were encouraged to  during the March 22 informative session “be near” the DCL office in case something went wrong with the website in their room selection process. Student workers should not have to bear the brunt of their peers’ understandable panic over a system that administrators casually mention might malfunction or break at a pivotal moment. 

In the same vein, the broader problem of on-campus housing is a systemic one. The administration has chosen not to invest more resources and funding into improving student life on campus, even as  the price of tuition continues to rise. 

This is not an issue that the individual DCL workers — both employees and students  —  can change. This board asks that students experiencing the frustrations of the housing selection process be patient and empathetic with members of DCL who are simply doing their jobs within a flawed and unaccommodating system they do not have the direct power to change. 

More generally, this board also would like to express our support for fellow students who are going through the stresses of securing housing for next year. We realize how difficult and anxiety-inducing this process can be. Several members of the editorial board are facing issues in securing housing ourselves; trying to figure it all out while also managing midterms is overwhelming. Ultimately, finding a home on campus should be something to celebrate, not something to fear. If the University wants to cement itself as a place for all students to learn, grow, and thrive, they have to start with a promise of security: that all students will have a safe and affordable space to do so if they choose to live on campus. 

—Editor’s note: Editor Cameron Cushing ’23 is employed by the Department of community living as a Community Advisor. He did not contribute to or edit the parts of this article pertaining to DCL.