Seniors, who have had a guaranteed spot on campus in the past, will no longer have that guarantee next semester.
Instead, they will have to enter a lottery to determine their housing fate the university announced this Thursday in an email from Associate Dean of Students for Community Living and Housing Anthony Donovan.
“Rising seniors for Fall 2024 (those expected to have 94 or more credit hours by the end of the spring semester) who wish to remain in on-campus housing will participate in a lottery for available spaces,” said Donovan.
Kindle Knight, a junior songwriting major is worried about what this will mean for herself and her friends who are going to be entered into the lottery.
“I felt like that was completely uncalled for, especially considering that as many people that come all over the country,” she said.
The only students with guaranteed housing next fall are sophomores and juniors who opt-in.
“It feels like they're abandoning their upperclassmen,” Knight said.
Jay Moreland, a junior music composition major, is worried about the implications this will have for seniors who have to pay for off campus housing next year.
“They’re going to have to pay for schooling while going full time at school, which means they're likely going to have a job that they're working 40 hours a week. That's not healthy for anybody's mental capacity. It's not healthy for anybody physically,” he said.
Belmont will also cap the number of spaces for incoming freshmen, but the university did not specify what that number would be.
Patrick Santorum, a senior psychology major, understands why Belmont made the decision.
“I get it there’s only so much space you can offer,” he said. “It's kind of unfortunate, but ultimately, it's just kind of the growing pains that any college is going to experience as it gets bigger.”
The changes come after recent housing struggles last fall. Some students having to be off-campus in overflow apartments as a temporary solution while the university explored more permanent options.
“Instead of fixing the housing issue, they just keep admitting students. So there's a problem there,” said Moreland.
One of these options will be the new dorm Caldwell II, however that dorm will not be open to residents until the fall of 2025.
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This article was written by Braden Simmons