Off-campus permission should be more consistent. Jack Cote | Collegian
Every day for the past three weeks, I’ve had a conversation with someone about the off-campus housing scramble. With the construction of a new dorm and the purchase of new properties, everyone was asserting that they had it on good authority that “absolutely no rising juniors will be getting off campus this year.” Widespread panic, especially among the current sophomore class, has become a part of second semester campus culture, as no one seems to be able to predict confidently who will be on or off campus the next year.
The process for off-campus eligibility, while fair and transparent, is too inconsistent to continue as is. The criteria for being given permission needs to be altered to be clear and easy to count on, not based on ever-changing admission stats and numbers. And it should include juniors.
According to the deans, students who apply for off-campus permission are first ranked by high school graduation year, and then within the graduation year by Hillsdale College credits. Students are allowed to check where they fall in the rankings when the list is released in February. The deans then send out emails to a number of students calculated by subtracting on-campus beds from student enrollment numbers. This year, with the construction of the Sohn Residence building and the purchase of multiple off-campus houses, off-campus housing spots decreased by 110 compared to last year.
While filling the dorms is necessary, students did not ask for more on-campus housing this year, and, therefore, cannot be expected to pay the price, both literally and figuratively, for that choice.
“I’m happy I got off campus, but, at the same time, I feel sad because I knew I was going to get it because I am 21,” sophomore Betsy Hook said. “Everyone has their idiosyncrasies and differences and a house dynamic is much different than a dorm. It’s hard knowing that I have a spot off campus but at the same time not knowing who I will be living with. To me, that’s the most important and fun part of finally having a house off campus.”
Dean of Women Rebekah Dell said the process is meant to ensure that seniors are able to get off campus. Aaron Petersen, dean of men, said that off-campus permission as a whole is meant to preserve the on-campus community. Both agreed that it is their responsibility to fill on-campus beds as a part of the business operations of the college.
On-campus housing costs significantly more than off-campus housing, especially factoring in the meal plan. The off-campus meal plan is $4350, allowing for 10 meals per week or a 100 meal block as opposed to the cheapest on-campus meal plan being $5850 with 15 meals per week or a 150 meal block. In the administration’s defense, the recently purchased houses at the corner of Hillsdale and Fayette streets will all qualify for the off-campus meal plan, but the ladies in the Sohn Residence and those relegated to other dorm living during their junior year, will not.
“Off-campus permission is not something that is ever guaranteed, but it is something that’s kind of assumed and, before I was even a freshman, I was coming in with the assumption that pretty much all juniors and seniors will be off campus,” sophomore Kenda Showalter said. “I have financial plans depending on that. So now it’s a bit of a challenge since I wasn’t able to get off campus this year. And it’s about $3,500 more expensive on campus per year.”
Most students are incredibly financially privileged by Hillsdale College scholarships. Nevertheless, the clear financial leap between living on campus and off is enough to make some students nervous about taking out more loans, or putting a heavier burden on their parents.
The college catalog currently says, “All students reside in college housing during their time at Hillsdale College unless residence hall capacities are exceeded.” There are no prior instances to point to in which the residence hall capacity has not been exceeded. Students are constantly told how much Hillsdale is growing and how the current sophomore class is the largest class the school has ever had. How were current sophomores meant to anticipate not being able to get off campus with conversations like that being central both years that we’ve been here? More broadly, how were students truly supposed to consider not getting off campus if only the year prior there were entire houses of sophomores allowed to live off campus? Pointing to the catalog doesn’t mean anything if everything else points to a different reality.
Community does not need to be orchestrated by the college once a student reaches upperclassmen status. There is a distinct and empowering freedom that comes with being able to choose your community after two years of finding those people. Signing a lease, organizing utilities, gathering groups, and setting expectations for communal living is all a part of rising to self governance.
“Living off campus has allowed me to learn how to more fully self govern through a richer experience of freedom, the fourth pillar of the college and the foundation of a liberal arts education,” junior Merrit Pope said. “The larger responsibility, the more intentional community, and the opportunity to lead a truly independent lifestyle, have all compelled me to better understand the gravity of self-governance and to begin cultivating personal habits that will lead to a successful and more virtuous life post-grad.”
Basing permission on Hillsdale credits punishes students who took AP and dual-enrollment classes in high school in order to avoid a heavy class load in college. Not to mention, transfer students take a hit after paying for a semester and beyond at another institution. Hillsdale is adamant about merit-based selection during the admissions process and scholarship processes; the same should go for off-campus housing.
Give students an incentive for performing well by marking a specific GPA range that allows students automatic off-campus permission by their junior year. Make it the policy that upperclassmen can rely on getting off campus if they meet certain academic or campus involvement markers. Less specifically, draft a process that students can rely on and that pays homage to the two years that juniors have already spent living in and pouring into campus.
College students are far closer to making decisions about where they are, where they want to be, and what their communities look like than the phase of “making the most of where you are” that childhood and adolescence forces us to learn. In pursuit of building an on-campus culture and filling beds, the college has created unneeded stress and financial burden for juniors who deserve a chance to move off campus.
