Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but thanks to the InterHall Housing Raffle it can come pretty close. A week or two before the housing lottery in the fall and the spring, InterHall raffles off a University-owned townhouse, four apartments, two singles, and a Copley suite, each of which come with housing eligibility for the winner. Each student can buy up to six $2 tickets for each of the eight raffles, so that some groups of four drop $288 for the chance to avoid Village C. The raffle may be a convenient way for InterHall to raise money, but it does so by giving wealthier students a leg up on their less affluent peers in the housing selection. Housing Services should affirm its commitment to making a fair housing lottery and bring an end to the biannual raffle.
The raffles typically take place before upperclassmen housing selection in the fall and before freshmen selection in the spring—playing on the stress caused by a limited selection of on-campus housing. The winners of InterHall’s raffle not only receive eligibility and a townhouse, apartment, or single, but they also receive one of the top picks in each of these categories; raffle winners can select from sought-after rooftop Village A apartments and N Street townhouses. Also, winners are able to decide whom they live with—though their roommates aren’t automatically granted eligibility.
By offering a chance for students to buy their way out of the inconvenience of Housing’s eligibility and lottery systems, InterHall is giving an unfair advantage to affluent students—discriminating against the sizable portion of Georgetown undergrads who can’t afford a fair shot at InterHall’s raffle. The cost of a ticket is irrelevant; Georgetown’s student services should not be awarded based on an ability to pay. Housing is a right, not a privilege. Everyone, regardless of parents’ income or personal wealth, should have an equal shot.
Unfortunately, the fall raffle for upperclassmen has already taken place this year. InterHall should cancel the spring raffle for freshmen. If they don’t, Housing should step in and stop supplying them with the residences for the raffle. No amount of money is worth subverting the housing lottery and disadvantaging Hoyas who can’t afford to subsidize InterHall activities.
