Had the newest residence hall on campus been unable to host students, the university and Residential Life would resort to a contingency plan. This plan involved students living in a hotel at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
However, the only students affected by delays in opening were early move-in students, according to Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life, Kimberly Russell.
Students move in early for certain clubs and activities, such as New Student Orientation, student assistants for core advising or sports. Those students did not live in a downtown hotel, but rather different residence halls on campus.
“It was close, but we opened the hall before opening,” said Russell.
Russell said that every year, about 1,400 residents move into their respective residence halls before their official move-in date.
“We try our best to make sure the rooms are ready for them,” said Russell. “But depending on how early a student may be arriving, it is not always possible to have residents move directly into their room.”
Russell said some students in Faber Hall needed to stay in temporary housing before their rooms were ready for occupation. She said early arrival students living in Faber but staying in temporary housing were permitted to deposit their belongings in their room upon arrival, and many did.
Other universities have had instances in which housing is not available, whether temporarily or indefinitely. According to The New York Times, New York University housed 145 students in hotels in 2015 due to overflow.
Alex Sotille, FCRH ’19, who participated in New Student Orientation said she was unable to move into her room in Faber Hall a week early because of the situation.
“I wasn’t able to move into my dorm for about five days,” said Sotille. “It was a little inconvenient and troublesome.”
Until her room was available, she kept her belongings in her room in Faber and lived elsewhere on campus. Amanda Shepard, FCRH ’19, said she was also unable to move in early for New Student Orientation and instead stayed in Loschert.
“It wasn’t too bad,” said Shepard. “But we still have fire guards on every floor in case there is an actual fire.”
Facilities management did not respond with a comment regarding the “fire guards” and what problems specifically prevented opening by the time the article was printed.
Russell said that the university and Residential Life has contingency plans in place in case of events like this.
“We always have a back-up plan because you never know what might happen when you renovate,” said Russell. “We had secured rooms at a hotel in Columbus Circle in case there was a delay.”
Russell said that had the university employed housing at Columbus Circle, they would have provided transportation to Rose Hill at no cost.
