Construction delays in Yeh College, NCW could temporarily relocate students this fall

Yeh College and New College West (NCW) may remain under construction as the school year begins, according to a July 20 email to students living in the residential colleges.

According to the memo from Head of Yeh College Asif Ghazanfar, Head of NCW AnneMarie Luijendijk, Dean of the College Jill Dolan, and Vice President for Campus Life W. Rochelle Calhoun, both dormitories and common spaces within the colleges may be incomplete in September.

In the memo, the University confirmed that administrators “are currently still working to ensure that the eight new residence halls and the rest of the twelve-acre site will be ready” by the time students move in.

While that remains the goal, the memo noted that “pandemic-era supply chain challenges and other obstacles” may require some students to “receive temporary, alternate room assignments on campus” before being able to move into permanent housing. Additionally, “it’s possible that some common spaces may not be complete” when students begin to return to campus next month.

The memo specified that if temporary housing is required, “[f]irst-year students would be assigned rooms in the former First College dorms,” which have not yet been demolished, and that “[r]eturning students would be assigned to vacant rooms across campus.”

In an email to The Daily Princetonian, Uma Fox ’26, a first-year assigned to Yeh College, said that “[b]eing Yeh’s first class already presents a challenge in helping craft the colleges’ culture; moving into First College dorms could make it more difficult to create a new community.” She is, however, “grateful that the College has kept us updated and has a contingency plan.”

Temporary housing assignments for first-year students would attempt to “keep roommates and RCA groups together.” Returning students who are put into temporary housing would be placed with their chosen roommates or "near one another."

The University noted that temporary housing “will meet the needs of students for whom housing accommodations have already been approved.”

The Class of 2026 will receive an email on July 21 with their permanent housing assignments for the academic year. In an email to the ‘Prince’, University Deputy Spokesperson Michael Hotchkiss confirmed that both “first-years [and] returning students will receive information on whether temporary assignments are necessary by Monday, August 15.”

Hotchkiss also noted that returning students on the waitlist for housing “are currently being confirmed and distributed,” and this process will conclude prior to any needed room reassignments.

When asked about the potential timing and logistics of any necessary mid-semester move, Hotchkiss said that “if temporary assignments are required, the timing of the moves to New College West and Yeh would be coordinated with the residential college staffs, Housing, and Facilities.”

The University assured that it will “be in touch with relevant updates" to prepare for a return to campus by August 15, and that other updates will be available at this site.

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Madeleine LeBeau is a Staff Writer for the ‘Prince.’ She can be reached at mlebeau@princeton.edu, on Instagram @madeleinelebeau, or on Twitter @MadeleineLeBeau.