Living arrangements this year at Seton Hill University (SHU) have become a current topic shared by students. Whether its rearrangements or displacement, both have been brought up as concerns for the Fall 2006-Spring 2007 academic year. More specifically, the placement of Honors students in De Chantal Hall has created discussion among SHU students.
This year, all incoming freshman honors students received the option of living in their choice of De Chantal, Brownlee, or Havey Halls. Prior to this, only upper-classmen were permitted to live in both De Chantal and Farrell Halls.
By Jaynelle Stevens,
Publicity
Living arrangements this year at Seton Hill University (SHU) have become a current topic shared by students. Whether its rearrangements or displacement, both have been brought up as concerns for the Fall 2006-Spring 2007 academic year. More specifically, the placement of Honors students in De Chantal Hall has created discussion among SHU students.
This year, all incoming freshman honors students received the option of living in their choice of De Chantal, Brownlee, or Havey Halls. Prior to this, only upper-classmen were permitted to live in both De Chantal and Farrell Halls.
Additionally, those honors students who chose to live in De Chantal were offered the same prices as those living in Brownlee or Havey.
Robin Anke, director of residence life, along with a few others developed the idea of creating a freshman honors quarter in De Chantal Hall for the 2006-2007 school year.
�Doing this was part of our strategic plan, which is a five year plan that is to create special interest floors in different resident halls on campus. Our hopes are to use it as a recruitment tool to encourage more freshmen to be a part of the honors program at SHU,� Anke said.
According to Anke, this is going to be one of the many hopeful specialized living quarters which will be occurring in SHU’s future.
Anke considers this an experiment which is hoped to result in additional recruitments.
�We plan on getting feedback from these students and giving them the chance to tell us if these living arrangements are positive. I plan on sending a survey and finding out if it (specialized living quarters) was effective.�
These �experimental� students, a total of 36, are living in the first quarter of De Chantal in rooms 100-107.
The rooms that are now freshman honors quarters once belonged to upperclassmen resulting in displacement. Jessica Harmon, junior, a former resident of De Chantal was one of the displaced students.
�Personally I feel that freshmen should not have priority over upperclassmen to live in De Chantal, or Farrell for that matter. Just like a few others experienced, we were some of the students (upperclassmen) who ended up getting kicked out of their rooms in De Chantal,� she said.
Anke commented that she gave students who would be displaced a warning and offer in advance. Despite this, some displaced students still share their anger.
On a positive note, it has been noticed that thus far the freshman living in De Chantal have been creating great rapport among one another. Resident Assistant of the freshman honors students, Lorin Schumacher said, �I do think it has been a positive thing. I have noticed how close my residents have become to each other in just the few short weeks they have been here.�
Finally, one concern Anke had was that the freshman honors students may be deprived of living the �freshman experience� because they would not be living together with the rest of the freshman community. Schumacher confirmed that there was no sign of the students being deprived of their freshman community.
�I often see my residents bringing their friends from the freshman halls over to hang out in their rooms in De Chantal. They still have many other opportunities which allow them to interact with other freshmen, such as through classes, the dining hall, sports teams, campus activities. I don’tthink that living in a different hall has deprived them of anything.�
View this writer’s profile.