On Aug. 27, the Housing Renewal Task Force kickstarted a series of student feedback sessions to discuss housing improvements and recommendations over the next few years. The conversation touched on affordability, infrastructure, and improvement of campus life at DePauw. The initiative is a university’s plan to improve campus life at DePauw.
In past years, both students and faculty members at DePauw had expressed concerns about the state of university infrastructure. They highlighted how resident halls suffer from issues such as insufficiency of communal space, amenities, and maintenance services. The Housing Renewal Task Force, spearheaded by John Mark Day, vice president for student affairs, and Andrea Young, vice president for finance and administration, organized two meetings in Reese Hall for DePauw residents.
During the meeting, students claimed that housing preferences didn’t matter as much when getting into their desired building. They also talked about how their fellow friends and seniors couldn’t get into their preferred rooms.
A fourth-year student said that if you have six roommates and the building has eight rooms, you and your roommates have less chance of getting in. Students believed the problem was particularly important to address due to the new system change in housing assignment. They advocated for a more flexible system that allows them to get into their prioritized housing.
Students further discussed the lack of transportation and inadequate storage for basic amenities. One student who lived in Bloomington Street Hall highlighted the challenges of living far away from the main campus. First, they can’t get as involved in campus events and club activities. Besides exclusion, finding basic amenities is just as difficult.
Many students who have no cars, combined with inadequate public transportation, struggle to get groceries, cleaning supplies, and other amenities.
Students who are on meal swipes, which for some are not sufficient for their daily meal intake, can’t get enough groceries like meat from C-Store. International students also expressed how difficult it is to buy food in Greencastle.
Students also discussed infrastructure maintenance, specifically bathroom cleanliness and lack of spaces for neurodivergent students. Students wanted more trees and benches to sit outside so that they could engage more with the campus.
Another student addressed the inaccessibility of buildings, highlighting how automatic doors that open for disabled people can hit their heads instead. A student added that some of the residential walls were thin and sounds were heard.
During a general assembly conducted by the DePauw Student Government, representatives of the housing committee said that the short-term plans will be executed so that current students can enjoy housing facilities. Even without an existing full-scale plan to renovate campus housing, the committee aims to enhance public infrastructure for the long term.