THE ISSUE: UNC housing and residential education officials have recently proposed plans for a second super-suite style on-campus housing option. The proposed building, located between Morrison and Rams Head Parking Deck, would replace the soon-to-be closed apartments of Odum Village.
Click here to see Alex Wilcox’s opposing viewpoint.
The proposed building is a great plan that is (hopefully) awaiting a just approval by UNC’s Buildings and Grounds Committee this spring.
According to polling results gathered by UNC housing officials, students prefer apartment-style housing, such as Odum Village, to the super suite design currently proposed. However, the same polling results also indicated that UNC students vastly prioritize the cost of housing over dormitory style, thus making the cheaper super suites more desirable.
Fortunately, one doesn’t need to look far, literally, to justify the choice of super suite style dorms. Morrison Residential Hall, the crown jewel of South Campus housing, is located next to the proposed dorm and sees fierce competition every year for its super suites. Due to priority being given to Morrison residents for selection of the next year’s super suites, other students begin networking as early as October in order to latch on to one of these prioritized residents. Students are turned down from Morrison’s super suites every year. Fortunately, the South Campus super suite aristocracy will expand to the newly proposed dorm.
The proposed dorm would provide remarkably nicer living conditions than other South Campus dorms without sacrificing affordability. As desirable as apartment style living is in Chapel Hill, the cost of such dorms would create an overwhelming burden on South Campus students simply wishing to upgrade from gulag-esque Hinton James Residence Hall and Ehringhaus Residence Hall living conditions.
The addition of another super suite-style dorm in the prime real estate around Rams Head Recreation Center and Dining Hall will further solidify the area as the heart of on-campus undergraduate living. The proposed plan is both economically and socially savvy.
