Housing Crunch leads to conversion of lounge space into housing

Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.

If this semester, Swat seems a little more crowded than in the past, it’s not your imagination. An unbalanced number of students returning from study abroad versus leaving for study abroad has resulted in a housing crunch. Only a semester ago, rumors of phasing out certain floors or sections of dormitories were in the air. This semester, all of the lounges in Danawell have been converted into double rooms and three of the doubles in ML basement have become singles for juniors.

Liz Derickson, in an email to Gazette writer Lauren Stokes, stated, “There is a housing ‘crunch’ this semester, in that we had [approximately] 100 students return from study abroad and only [approximately] 50 leave. But, we’ve been able to accommodate everyone with spaces in college housing.” Derickson also observed that they were very sorry to have to convert the students’ lounge space, and that “Unlike last semester, almost all rooms in ML basement are assigned.”

Tori Martello ’08, one of the Juniors who returned this semester, moved into a Danawell-double/former-lounge after taking a semester to participate in a national program. “I do feel bad that people lost their lounges, but they are nice rooms [my roommate and I] are happy with it. We’re on campus.”

For Martello, as for many of the other students who were abroad fall semester, the details of the housing crunch were something of a surprise. Most, as juniors, believed that they would not have too much difficulty in receiving comfortable on campus housing. Traditionally, sophomore year has been perceived to be the year in which getting your first choice housing would be difficult, however, this year it was different. “Swarthmore has always guaranteed housing, but if they keep accepting students at this rate I’m not sure how we’ll be able to keep that guarantee,” wonders Martello.

Martello is immensely grateful to her proxy, observing that the stress on proxies, who had to make arrangements for the returning students, was particularly great as they had to handle this at the same time as finals (and some students served as proxies for multiple returning students.) “It was a mad mash of e-mails– you e-mailed your proxy twice a day.” Though most of the juniors abroad had expected to return to an on campus single, many of their proxies needed to play ‘matchmaker’ and arrange roommates.

Martello speculates that in addition to the number of accepted students, the fact that it has grown increasingly difficult to get housing in the ville has contributed to the situation faced this semester by returning students. In addition, though talk of the construction of ‘New Dorm’s Twin’ suggests that this may help meet expanded housing needs, issues like dorm renovations and a continued trend of higher numbers of students studying abroad in the fall led to Martello’s observation, “It could be very hard in the coming years.”