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Syracuse University notified approximately 200 returning students on Monday they would be relocated from their assigned residence hall, DellPlain Hall, for the 2022-23 academic year.

While SU offered admission to slightly fewer applicants this year, more first-year students accepted offers of admission than the university’s models anticipated, said Sarah Scalese, SU’s senior associate vice president for university communications.

The unanticipated number of acceptances created a large first-year class, Scalese said, resulting in the relocation from DellPlain.

Allen Groves, SU’s senior vice president and chief student experience officer, and Kris Klinger, senior associate vice president for auxiliary services, apologized on Monday in an email to impacted students.
“We are committed to working with you throughout the next few months to make your transition to a new housing assignment as smooth as possible,” Groves and Klinger wrote in the email.

The email said affected students would be able to select a new housing option.

Impacted students are able to rank four new housing options on their MySlice self-service page: the Harry and Lillian Marley Education Center, the Syracuse University Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center, University Village apartments on East Colvin Street and 206 Walnut Place.

The Harry and Lillian Marley Education Center, according to the email, formerly held Crouse Hospital’s nursing program. The Walnut Place property was previously the home of SU’s Gamma chapter of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority.

Affected students will not have to pay additional housing fees for the 2022-23 school year, Scalese said.

Viviane Hamzy, a rising sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she and her roomate had initially chosen to live in a large split double in DellPlain for the upcoming school year.

“It’s very overwhelming, especially during the summer when we should be relaxing, enjoying our time away from school,” Hamzy said.

According to the email, SU cannot guarantee students’ first choice selections for alternative housing. The ranked-choice survey will close on June 17 at 5 p.m. Students will receive a new housing assignment from the Office of Housing, Meal Plan, and I.D. Card Services by June 30, Klinger and Groves wrote.

In the email, Klinger and Groves said the four alternative housing options will either match or surpass the amenities provided by students’ previous housing choice. SU will also compensate each student with an additional $250 in dining dollars.

Hamzy said the university’s decision is frustrating considering the stress of finding fall housing during the spring 2022 semester.

“I thought I was going to be living in a renovated dorm … I just don’t understand why they don’t put the freshmen in these alternate housing options,” Hamzy said.

Groves and Klinger wrote in their email that living in a residence hall with other first-year students is an important part of the transition to college.

SU will attempt to maintain current roommate assignments, but may not be able to keep all current roommates together, the pair wrote.

Selected students should select the same preferences as their current assigned roommate or roomate groups when completing the survey for the best chance of keeping roommate matches, the email continued.

Chloe Meacham, a rising sophomore in the School of Visual and Performing Arts, said she and her roommate had selected a large split double in Dellplain Hall because of the privacy it provided them and its location on campus. Meacham said she was concerned about the distance between alternative housing options and residential dining halls.

“A five, seven minute walk doesn’t sound like a lot, but what about when you have no energy and you just want dinner?” Meacham said, “It means so much.”

Meacham said she understands if the university needs a spillover dorm in case of over-enrollment.

“But you need to inform your students that if they are choosing a spillover dorm, they are at risk of being displaced,” she said. “Because otherwise, it’s just a blind slap in the face.”

Published on June 14, 2022 at 12:28 am