2008 Woodie Awards
Like it or not, first year housing invoked
By Stella Cernak, Collegian Staff
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: News
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Once a housing option for freshmen living on campus in years past, all-freshmen residence halls are a required living arrangement for all of this year's first-year students.
According to the University's director of news and information Ed Blaguszewski, UMass has gradually implemented its plan of having all first-year on-campus students living together over the past five years.
This is apparent to senior and Student Government Association President Malcolm Chu, who, like many of the University's upperclassmen, saw the number of all-freshmen residence halls climb first hand from four halls in 2005 to 15 halls this year. Five of these halls - Cance, John Adams, Mary Lyon, Crabtree and Knowlton - became first-year-only this semester.
Newly elected Chu and his running-mate and current SGA trustee Lindsay McCluskey have taken a hard stance against making the first-year halls a requirement. Last year, the two tried to stop the University from implementing the policy but saw no success.
"I feel personally pretty strongly that it [required all-freshmen housing] limits choice, limits our ability to have a say in where we live. We should have a choice to live in freshmen housing - it's not for everyone," Chu, who lived in a first-year hall his freshman year, said.
Sophomore Yurleni Velez, who lived in an all-freshmen residence hall last year, agreed.
"From my experience people tend to be inconsiderate and loud. Freshmen tend to be less mature than people from a higher school level. Immaturity plus immaturity equals more immaturity."
Despite Chu and McCluskey's efforts, UMass Residence Life expanded the first-year hall program this year due to positive feedback it received from freshmen who participated in the program in years prior.
"At UMass Amherst, and throughout the country, students have found that when they live and study together they do better academically, form lasting friendships and have a more satisfying college experience," Blaguszewski said.
This was certainly the case for recent UMass graduate Richie Kenney, who worked as a Resident Assistant in a first-year hall and lived in one of the halls his freshman year.
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