Simpson College announced in a press release on Sept. 4, the institution has welcomed its largest incoming class since 2012 with 423 new students, 381 of which are first-years.
Director of Residence Life Heather Emery-Cunningham said the large class size created the need for 24 to 26 more beds than what are typically available on campus. Therefore, residence life has had to get creative with housing the large volume of students by bringing theme houses back online and reverting past triples to once again accommodate three students.
The former classroom in the Barker basement was also converted into a living area intended for six students, with five currently occupying the space.
Peyton Lauer, a resident of the converted classroom, said he doesn’t think residence life understands their feelings about the living arrangement.
“I do not like it at all,” he said. “I feel like we’ve definitely voiced our opinions on this. I get they’re doing the best they can. That’s what they’re saying, but I feel like there’s more they can do.”
Lauer also said that the five roommates were not given ample time to prepare mentally or practically for the space.
“Two weeks after one of my roommates moved in and the day one of them moved in, they emailed us saying we would be getting two more roommates,” he said. “We were panicked.”
Lauer said he was not able to get in contact with these additional roommates in time to have a discussion about what everyone would be bringing to the room, which he believes would have helped to reduce clutter.
“[The room] can’t fit six people,” he said. “There’s five of us in there, and it’s already too cramped.”
Lauer and Emery-Cunningham both expressed that they hoped and believed this solution would be a temporary one, but there is uncertainty about when, if ever, changes will be made.
As an alternative solution, residence life is looking to the fraternity and sorority life housing facilities, noting that they have open bed spaces that could be utilized.
“While we can fill those spaces as we need to because we own and manage those buildings,” Emery-Cunningham said, “that can be challenging to fraternity and sorority organizations.”
She mentioned that ritual and members-only events could be a point of contention between chapters and non-members being housed in FSL buildings.
Grant Love, president of Alpha Tau Omega, agrees.
“There’s going to be a lot of times we’d have to kick people out,” he said. “We do have rituals that we need to keep secret and sacred, and it takes away from the brotherhood environment.”
Emery-Cunningham met with the FSL presidents and gave them the directive to focus on recruiting members of the incoming class and filling their spaces, therefore creating openings elsewhere on campus. She did prepare them for the possibility of non-members moving in.
“Come January, if I have folks that are on waitlists because they have accommodations for single rooms, I will be utilizing those spaces to accommodate those needs,” Emery-Cunningham said.
In the future, Emery-Cunningham said Residence Life will be doing away with the Kresge single room option, as that will open 17 extra bed spaces for incoming first-years.
“If we keep bringing in classes like this like we want to,” she said, “we’re going to need more space.”
Emery-Cunningham encourages students to complete the Res Life Experience Survey when it comes out in October or schedule a meeting with herself or Assistant Director of Residence Life, Ethan Brown to discuss specific housing concerns.
