As the second month of classes draws to a close, some students on campus are still going home to linen closets, studies and living rooms. They often have up to three roommates that they share that space with, leading to cramped, awkward housing arrangements. This is a symptom of the so-called “housing crisis.”
“We do not have a housing crisis at Smith,” said Hannah Durrant, Director of Residence Life. “More students requested housing on campus this semester and fewer students are studying abroad; in addition, Parsons House is undergoing repairs. Nevertheless, we were able to provide a room to each student who requested one.” Per Durrant, there is also no over-enrollment issue. “The student body is not larger this semester. It is about the same size as it has been in previous semesters, but more students are living on campus.”
Durrant says that 12 houses have temporary housing spaces, accounting for two percent of the student population. However, on the ResLife Self-Service Portal, where the most up-to-date floor plans are available, only six houses are marked as having temporary spaces. The specific rooms are still labeled as “studies” and “lounges” on the floor plans. With a total enrollment of about 2,600 students, these numbers put around 50 students in these kinds of spaces. Those students are largely first years.
“Temporary spaces are spaces in houses that can be converted into an individual student room,” said Durrant. “They are all on the first floors of houses and all have lockable doors with windows. These rooms also have the same furniture as other student rooms.”
However, this is not always the student experience. “Students have been moved into the study rooms and I have not been notified, which has caused some issues with residents not having furniture in their rooms,” said Ainsley Chrystal ’23, President of King House. The rooms in King were missing mattresses and lamps.
Most of these spaces, additionally, were not originally meant to be rooms. Many are former common rooms, offices or linen closets that have been converted. The temporary quadruple in Comstock House is a pass-through room attached to the entryway. It blocks that entryway from being used to get into the house; the only place to go from that entry door now is up the stairs. A student who was previously assigned to live there described it as a “hallway.”
These changes are initiated often without house leadership being told. “Capen residents were not notified that a student was placed into the common space that is now considered a single,” said Morgan Hatherill ’24, President of Capen House. “This understandably created some confusion in the house.”
“In Capen, there is a noticeable reduction in common spaces due to over-enrollment and the closing of Parsons House … While people continue to utilize the common spaces on a daily basis to study, take breaks and host small events, I believe the implementation of temporary housing has had an adverse effect on our house community,” continued Hatherill. “Where people were once able to see others in the common space across the hall from them, they now see closed doors with residents’ names on them. The temporary housing has segregated the house living spaces, reducing peoples’ inclinations to commune there.” Two of Capen’s four common spaces have been converted into temporary housing spaces.
Scales is another house that has had rooms converted. “Historically, these rooms served as the ‘house mom’s office’ and the door in the corner was a linen closet,” said Kate Kagel ’23, President of Scales House. The former has since become a triple. “This was a big shift as Scales House is well known for being the Quad house with the most singles.”
Over time, these small spaces are expected to hold more and more students. “Last year, the old House Mother’s office was converted into a double; however, this year it was converted into a triple,” said Kagel. “I think the room was far too small for a triple.” This is the case for other temporary housing spaces in other houses, too.
“In an effort to find spaces for the number of students, both of the King study rooms, which are off of our living room, have been converted; one as a triple, and one as a single,” said Chrystal. “Students who were hoping to live in King and presumably have a single now are thrust into a room not meant for three people. [They] must walk multiple floors for a bathroom because they do not have one.”
This has repercussions for not only house communities, but the students living in those temporary spaces. “This model is unsustainable especially as something as simple as poor living conditions could cause students to transfer houses or even schools,” said Chrystal. “Students have had to make the decision to move houses because of the conditions of the rooms.”
“When students were assigned to temporary housing this summer, a residence life professional staff member called and emailed each student to provide additional information about the space and answer questions,” said Durrant.
A student who was assigned to a temporary space last year said that that communication wasn’t adequate. First, the email did not use her name; instead, it was addressed to “{Preferred Name}”. The student, who asked to remain anonymous, was told in the email that she would be in a quadruple “non-traditional space,” used when there are “an above-average number of students returning to Smith.”
The student also had to initiate her own room change. “While it was before I actually arrived on campus, I had to pull a lot of sympathy cards to get anyone to reply to emails.” ODS was closed during the initial housing assignments, so it was a difficult process for the student to get her disability accommodations. She was able to get a room change before the start of the semester, but the three others in that quadruple did not.
“Every student who has requested to move out of temporary housing has been offered a room change this semester, unless they have requested a specific house/room type that is not currently available,” said Durrant. These students were given priority in the room change process, but “there has been no impact on the process of getting a room change” for other students.
In Scales, one student in temporary housing opted for a room change that took them out of the house. But others, attached to their house communities, have opted to stay in these spaces. “Another first year in the office triple was offered a new housing assignment and actually turned it down!” said Kagel. “I think it speaks measures of the community Scales House Leadership has built.”
“If students have additional questions or concerns about housing I encourage them to be in touch with me,” said Durrant. “I am more than willing to speak with them. We recognize that a student’s residential experience is important while at Smith and we want to address questions and concerns.”
A first-year student in temporary housing this year expressed disappointment with her room. “It feels like Smith doesn’t care about us,” she said. “It’s hard to feel like a member of the community when I sleep in a living room.”
