Proposed changes to Du Bois College House triples fall through

After on-campus housing selection concluded on Feb. 27 , only two residents chose a new room type being piloted in Du Bois College House. As a result, the proposed new room configurations will not be offered next year.

At the end of last semester, Du Bois and Residential Services announced that some triples in the college house would be offered as quads for the next semester. The current triples consist of three singles with one room much larger than the others, and the new quad room type would convert the larger room into a double .

Director of Residential Services John Eckman said in an email that when it became apparent during the housing selection process that renting the double was not a popular option, Residential Services switched the room type back to the original triple configuration. He said for the two students that did choose the new room type, they were assisted in “finding a comparable option.”

“The students who selected the singles were not impacted at all by the change,” he added.

As part of the pilot program, the room configuration change would have come with a rent decrease from $9,810 a year to $8,330 . When the pilot was announced, Eckman explained it intended to offer what may be a more financially feasible option for some students.

In December, reactions from Du Bois residents about offering the new room type were mixed. All students interviewed at the time indicated they likely would not opt for it during housing selection, preferring the singles .

Du Bois House Dean Trish Williams said this result of the room type pilot was not unexpected. “While I really hoped the pilot would work for students seeking a better option financially, it was not a surprise to me,” she said in an email.

She said that years ago, Du Bois did have three-bedroom quads for freshmen, but they discontinued that room type. Students seem to have always valued personal privacy, she said.

Despite the results of the room type pilot, Williams is confident it won’t affect Du Bois. “We remain the same tight-knit community we’ve always been,” she said.

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