The Efroymson Bridge Fellowship and the Klauser Fellowship programs in the DePauw art department which provide recent DePauw graduates with an opportunity for hands-on experience on campus, do not offer on-campus housing.
John Berry, associate chair of the art and art history department and the associate professor of art, painting, and drawing, said that advocating for better accommodations for the fellows would likely begin with the art and art history department because the department selects the fellows and supervises the positions in those fellowships. He added that Student Affairs makes decisions about housing and plans.
“Since the fellows have graduated and are no longer students, and are now classified as staff, we may have to consider other avenues,” Berry said. “I'm not sure what those would be yet. I'm not aware of housing or meal assistance for staff.”
Emma Pizana’22, an Efroymson fellow, said that because she isn’t provided housing from DePauw, she now has to work many hours to make rent on top of fulfilling her duties as a fellow.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be living on campus, but I thought it was gonna be like $300 for rent,” Pizana said. “Some other people had told me that they were paying that because they were living in homes that some of the professors owned, so I just assumed what the cost of living was for Greencastle. Instead, my rent is $800 a month on such a small salary.''
Pizana added how not everyone at DePauw has the same financial privileges.
Holly Buchanan ’22, an Efroymson fellow, said she does not have to stay in Greencastle, considering her home is only 20 minutes away. However, she added it was hard to travel especially if there was an event on campus.
Buchanan pointed out that she couldn’t imagine not having a choice in terms of housing and only having the option to live in Greencastle.
“Fortunately, I live close enough to campus to commute here from home,” Buchanan said. “My sister and I are both Efroymson fellows, and we both thought about renting a place in Greencastle to be even closer to campus for convenience... there were not many options and the expense just wouldn't have been worth it, although I'm sure we would've stayed in Greencastle had housing been included.