Housing debate continues

Randomized housing has been a hot topic on campus in recent months, but the release of the Commission on Strengthening the Community's preliminary report yesterday seems to have clouded, rather than clarified, the issue. According to Commission Chairperson Gloria Twine Chisum, the group's report does not recommend randomized housing at all. Instead, it advocates "assigned housing for freshmen," Chisum said. "What we've recommended is that a committee of students and administrators, and perhaps faculty, work out how [an assignment system] would be done," she added. Although Chisum said she is not sure how such a system would be implemented, she is certain of one thing: beginning in 1995-96, freshmen would not have the option of residing in Living-Learning programs. "What we are expecting [with assigned housing] is that there would be more of a mix of people from various backgrounds than what we have at the present time with the present system," Chisum explained. "At the present time, freshman housing seems to be very stratified based on backgrounds," she added. "The new system will make the residences much more reflective of the make-up of the class." Despite Chisum's confidence in the new system recommended by the Commission, University administrators remain concerned about it. "I don't support randomized housing," said Associate Vice Provost for University Life Larry Moneta. "I understand the merits and intentions of the Commission's report, and I understand the theory, but I don't think the recommendation is tenable or feasible. "It's important that people be successful at the University," he added. "For some, that means exploring identity and culture. I don't support isolated communities, as our communities now are not exclusively intended." "My emphasis would be on increasing opportunities for cross-group interactions, not eliminating existing opportunities for within-group interaction," Moneta said. Acting Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum echoed Moneta's sentiments. "I have, for all my professional life, because of my personal experiences?believed in the following tenets," McCoullum said. "Students and their families should have options to choose from, in their coursework, in their extra-curricular activities and programs, and in their residences as undergraduate students. "The University should not endorse programs or activities which have a disparate, adverse impact on any one group of students," McCoullum said. "The life of a University community is nurtured most within the context of interplay between and within economic disciplines." McCoullum said she endorses the expansion of the College House system, the reorganization of the High Rises, the evaluation of the quality of off-campus housing and the development of activities to ease students' transition to University life. But she also said she is looking forward to speaking with Commission members about "their recommendations to assign first-year housing, as I do not believe that such an assignment, unless voluntary, would effect positive results." College senior Jun Bang, president of the United Minorities Council, agreed with McCoullum. "I strongly disagree with the Commission's recommendation," she said. "Resolving racial tensions and encouraging student interaction cannot be forced through mandatory first-year housing." Bang said she thinks race relations on campus can slowly be improved by encouraging students of different backgrounds to come together because of common interests, and to become friendly due to personal investment. Wharton sophomore Chris Lake, editor of The Vision, said he believes that "assigning where people would live wouldn't work." Lake explained that, especially for incoming freshmen, a sense of control is particularly important, because "as a freshman you're off balance a lot." "Taking the aspect of control away [from housing] can really be detrimental," Lake added. "Part of my adjustment was [due to] the support systems I had around me and where I lived. My success at the University would have been affected in a negative way if I hadn't had the opportunity to indulge in those support systems and choose them." College junior Lisette Monge, president of the Asociacion Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos (ACELA), reiterated the issues raised by Bang and Lake. "I had a chance to talk to different members of ACELA," she said. "The one opinion that looms very large is that it's very important for freshmen to have the choice of where to live, because as young adults we are entitled to have that choice." "It's important that students who have come from homogenous high schools have the chance to live with people who are not like them," she added, noting that the reverse is also true. Monge said that where you live has an impact on scholastic success as well, because the people on a student's freshman floor are the people with whom that student studies and socializes during the whole first year. Taking away the choice of Living-Learning programs for interested students -- or placing uninterested students in those programs -- would decrease their overall quality, Monge said.