By Joshua Wallace GS
I am anew graduate student at the University. I read the 2014 Statement on Graduate Housing with great interestsince the graduate and family housing situation has been very concerning to me. I agree that the Butler Apartments should be kept open as an affordable option. I was extremely upset when I found out the Butler Apartments were originally scheduled for demolition this summer, since it was the only truly affordable option for my wife, myself and our soon-to-arrive first child. For perspective, a two-bedroom apartment in Butler Apartments has a monthly rent plus estimated utility bill of $1,179, while a two-bedroom apartment at Lakeside Graduate Housing has a monthly rent of $1,546, utilities included.
However, there is something the statement has missed which I feel is critical to students with families, something which the University itself has also missed, and thus I add this supplement. In particular, the only thing mentioned in the statement regarding student families is child care. For students like me who don't plan onusing or don’t needchild careany changes made to the University’s child care policies will be of no effect. In my particular situation, my wife had decided to stay at home with our soon-to-arrive first child which will leave us relying solely on my graduate student stipend that, while generous, is inadequate as a single income for a family in the housing currently provided by the University. I wish to raise awareness of students in this position.
The housing statement seems to make the assumption that all graduate students are either single (and can thus defray rent expenditures by finding roommates) or that students with families will have both parents working (since the only suggestion in the housing statement in regard students with families is to provide better daycare) and thus theproposed Butler-less rent rateswill be affordable for all students. This assumption is inaccurate. In my situation, my wife prefers to stay at home to raise our child. In another situation, Iquote from another new graduate student: “My husband will be out of a job when we arrive and interviewing for an unknown amount of time. Thus, we will be living on a single income for a period, and I'm concerned about how we will be able to make ends meet. One of the appealing aspects of attending Princeton University was the available family housing, however with Butler being demolished and Lakeside not yet available (not to mention the fact that it is much, much more expensive)I am frustrated with the remaining options.” For people like us, improving the child care situation at Princeton as outlined in the housing statement will provide little to no improvement in our overall housing situation.
The current graduate housing situation at Princeton has failed to address an important segment of its populace: students with families who will only be operating off one income. Not addressing this issue will be a failure on the part of the University to address the full breadth of diversity in its student populace.
Keeping the Butler Apartments open would be a great solution, but based on the age of the apartments it seems that they will need to be replaced soon anyway (indeed, I believe that is the rationale behind demolishing them). I propose that the Butler Apartments could be replaced in phases with similar, but reasonably updated, low-cost family housing. Replacing the Butler Apartments in phases will allow at least a part of them to still be available for rent while the new construction takes place. Perhaps a similar but cheaper location could be found further off-campus and the new low-cost family housing can be built there with a regular shuttle service established to keep campus accessible despite the increased distance (which also addresses concerns in the recent Statement on Graduate Housing). At least for me, value trumps extravagance when it comes to housing. I would love livingat Lakesidebut it comes at a very high (for me unaffordable) price. The Butler Apartments, on the other hand, find their value not in providing the nicest living environment for students but in providing affordable housing so that students can actually afford living in Princeton.
Additionally, the creation of an alternative lower rent for single-income students with families would be beneficial. The family using such rent could help subsidize the lower rent by providing some sort of part-time alternative work (such as grounds work or office work at the apartments) to lower overall maintenance costs for the apartments. Each family with such an alternative cheaper rent could, for example, be responsible for five to 10 hours of office work or grounds work each week. This close-to-home part-time work would allow parents to still be able to watch their children near their home.
As I look at the universities I’ve attended and those that I’ve visited and considered for graduate school, it is clear to me that while the University has made an effort to provide affordable student family housing, there is still a long way to go to provide the caliber of affordable family student housing available elsewhere (especially if the Butler Apartments are demolished). Based on the amount and affordability of family housing elsewhere, I do not think it is an exaggeration to saythat the lack of affordable family housing at the University may very well have deterred some students who otherwise would have chosen to attend Princeton. It almost did for me.
Joshua Wallace is an astrophysics Ph.D. student from Salt Lake City, Utah. He is a member of the Graduate Student Government. He can be reached atjoshuajw@princeton.edu.
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