With the upcoming construction planned for Usen Castle, rising sophomores had to consider that the building will be closed next spring when selecting housing in the lottery last week. Housing selection for the first-year class began Monday, April 4, and while East Quad, North Quad, Massell Quad and 567 South Street will be available all of the 2016-2017 academic year, the Castle will close at the end of the Fall 2016 semester.
“At the end of the Fall semester, DCL will work with students to place them in new assignments for the Spring 2017 semester,” according to the Department of Community Living’s website. The new assignments will consist of Ziv, the Village and East, though these are subject to change due to availability.
Castle residents will have two options when moving out after the first semester. Either students can leave their items in their rooms over winter break and move them into their new housing when they return, or they can move out their items before the break. On-campus housing is guaranteed for first-years and sophomores.
Castle doubles are usually filled earlier in the room selection process than they were this selection. Castle doubles were completely full by numbers 284 and 480 in 2014 and 2015 respectively, but they have not yet been filled in this year’s lottery. North and Massel singles, which are usually taken 400 to 600 spots later in the lottery than Castle doubles, were also left unfilled by the end of the lottery.
The popularity of Castle suites has seen a slight decline in the past two years. In 2014 they were taken by spot 57, and in 2015 by spot 191. This recent shift has impacted the selection of suites in Rosenthal Quad, which have historically been selected after Castle suites. With the decline in popularity of Castle housing, the Rosie suites now require a lower lottery number. Between 2014 and 2015 the number declined from 90 to 75, and 61 in this lottery.
Jonas Tjahjadi ’19 will live in a Castle suite next semester with friends. Tjahjadi and his group were planning to live in a Rosenthal suite and thought their number, 62, would guarantee them a spot. However, they missed the Rosie cut-off by one spot. “The news of the Castle tearing down kind of just influenced everybody’s pick on Rosies instead of castle suites,” said Tjahjadi.
Tjahjadi said that moving out halfway through the year bothers him and the others in his suite, but explained that “part of the reason we chose the Castle suite was that it was an impulsive pick after we didn’t get the Rosie,” he said.
Renee Pite ’19, who had number 476, will be living in a Castle single next semester. This shows a shift from last year’s selection when Castle singles were taken by spot 403.
Not all rising sophomores living in the Castle next semester are unhappy about the move. Pite picked a Castle single to live near a friend and is hoping that they could live together after first semester. “My friend and I are planning on moving into nicer housing come midyear in January because they said online that they would move us,” said Pite. She and her friend hope to be moved into Village or Ziv.
Many of next year’s sophomores will be facing unique housing situations. Some will be moving from suites to singles, or vise versa, half way through the academic year. “I think we’re looking forward to it,” said Pite.
