University changes plans for room draw

its plans to merge part of Spelman Halls into Whitman College

University administrators had originally announced plans to incorporate both Spelman 7 and 8 into Whitman at a meeting with campus leaders in late January. An increase in the number of students who applied for independent housing as well as student opposition to the plan, however, led administrators to leave more of Spelman independent, Undergraduate Housing Manager Angela Hodgeman said.

The move to add rooms to four-year residential colleges was driven by a need to accommodate an increase in the number of underclassmen living in Whitman next year while “maintain[ing] the number of juniors and seniors that are part of the [four-year] program,” Hodgeman explained.

The goal of the changes is to increase the number of underclassmen living in Whitman without cutting back on the number of upperclassmen enrolled in four-year colleges, she said.

A last-minute adjustment

After reconsidering the Spelman reassignment based on the popularity of the Spelman draw this year, the Housing Department looked at various upperclass dorms before settling on Little Hall, Assistant Director for Student Housing Lisa DePaul said.

The number of students applying to the Spelman draw this year increased to 232 from 220 last year, Hodgeman said. In addition, 340 students applied for independent housing this year compared to 232 students in 2007. Independent students may enter either or both of these draws.

“We definitely considered Walker Hall, Wright Hall and Patton Hall as potential options,” DePaul explained, “but we had to take into account a lot of things,” such as student demand and impact on RCA groups.

USG president Josh Weinstein ’09 said that in a discussion with the Housing Department on Wednesday, he was informed that Wright Hall would be added to Whitman. Weinstein then called a meeting of USG members, campus leaders and eating club presidents to discuss the plan and brought the group’s concerns about the decision to Executive Vice President Mark Burstein.

Burstein explained that one of the main issues Weinstein raised was the popularity of Wright rooms in the regular upperclass room draw.

“Josh really reinforced what the room selection data said, which is that Wright is a dorm of relatively high interest in the room draw,” Burstein said.

After Burstein and Weinstein spoke on the phone this morning, the administration decided to “find an option that could keep the number of upperclassmen in residential colleges constant but also not impact the room draw,” Burstein said.

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Weinstein also informed Burstein of his intention to send out a survey asking students their opinion about adding Wright to Whitman. “It seems like the survey in conjunction with the meetings we’ve been having over the past few months really influenced their decision to not add Wright into Whitman,” Weinstein said.

In the first nine hours since the survey was e-mailed to undergraduates, just under 600 had logged in to vote either for or against annexing either Little or Spelman and to explain their reasoning.

DePaul explained that the Housing Department eventually settled on Little because it is already split between Mathey and upperclass housing and because applications for Mathey have increased from last year.

Student leadership response

Weinstein called the final plan “a tremendous improvement” over the original Wright Hall proposal and praised administrators for listening to student opinion on the matter.

“The vocal student interest for keeping Spelman as a bastion for independent students was recognized,” he said.

Still, Weinstein expressed some concerns with the plan. He said that there may be “a discrepancy between the number of applicants and the number of people who are really interested in the residential college program.”

The survey that Weinstein sent out to the student body said that “People apply for multiple draws to increase their probability of getting a good [draw] time, not because they are interested in the 4-year college program.”

Class of 2008 president Tom Haine said he opposes any part of Spelman becoming part of Whitman.

“There is no rational explanation for annexing the only rooms on campus with kitchens into a residential college,” Haine said. “Spelman provides its own kitchens for individual rooms, and by their very nature they are designed for independent students.”

Interclub Council chair and Charter Club president Michael Coolbaugh ’09, however, believes that the current solution of “adding an extra entryway of Little to Mathey makes more sense” than other options.

He added that he was “not sure that expanding the colleges is the right course of action at this point.”

Demand up for four-year colleges, independent housing

Burstein said that significantly more juniors and seniors have applied to live in four-year colleges this year than did last year. This year 585 upperclassmen applied to live in a residential college, compared to 492 in 2007. Additionally, the number of upperclassmen not entering any draw other than residential college draws increased from 18 to 77.

Hodgeman said that 522 students have entered the Whitman draw, while 375 students signed up for the Mathey draw.

Roughly 100 sophomores currently live in Whitman College, though the Housing Department expects this number to increase to 200 next year, Hodgeman said.

There are about 100 upperclassmen in Mathey and 200 upperclassmen in Whitman this year. Next year, there will be room for 140 upperclassmen in Mathey and 160 upperclassmen in Whitman.

When Butler College’s new dormitories open in 2009, 100 upperclassmen will live in each four-year residential college, Burstein said. He acknowledged, however, that the administration may increase the number of beds in four-year colleges if they determine that student interest in drawing into them grows.

— Senior writers Doug Eshleman and Daniella Roseman contributed reporting to this article.

See The Prox for additional coverage of this story.