Changes to the point selection system for the housing process at Georgetown have led one student to protest.
Adam Giblin (SFS ‘06) has drafted a letter and accompanying petition to dispute a new ranking process for campus housing.
The petition, which has been accessible online since Sunday, had collected almost 300 signatures by Wednesday night.
Under the new system, both the current juniors who live off campus this year and all current sophomores will be awarded the maximum four points in the housing lottery.
“The point system represents deliberate malice towards the Class of 2006 and short-term bribery (with an agenda of long-term pain) toward the Class of 2007,” begins Giblin’s petition, addressed to Director for Housing and Conference Services Jacqueline Rack.
Karen Frank, Vice President of Facilities and Student Housing, said that all changes to the housing selection process came as a direct response to student feedback.
“We give priority to assure that as many students as possible will be able to live on campus for at least three years if demand does not enable us to accommodate all requesters for four years,” she said.
According to Giblin, juniors who decided to live off campus this year believing that they would be guaranteed the best possible housing during their senior year will now be competing for the most coveted residences with the entire rising junior class.
When the Southwest Quadrangle opened in 2003, Housing Services promised four years of on-campus residence to all students. Rising juniors and seniors rushed to apply, but Housing had miscalculated the available space. Rising juniors were forced to scramble to find off-campus housing late in the year.
Worried that they would be stuck without housing, Giblin said that current juniors avoided living on campus this year, leaving Georgetown residences under-occupied.
He believes that the changes in the ranking system are designed to prevent this situation from occurring again by encouraging the class of 2007 to stay on campus next year.
The Georgetown University Student Association is also moving to address the issue. GUSA Representative Pravin Rajan (SFS ‘07) said he is currently working with GUSA to organize a group of student leaders, including members of the Housing Advisory Committee, to coordinate a student response to housing problems.
