Two empty residence halls on North Campus will reopen to first-year students during the 2016-17 school year.
Stacy and Everett Residence Halls were closed to students this year because of low housing enrollment. These dorms were instead repurposed to house conference groups.
First-years usually live in one of the South Campus residence halls, Granville Towers or Connor Residence Hall, but an increase in admissions for the upcoming fall semester from approximately 4,000 to 4,100 led to the decision to reopen Stacy and Everett.
Rick Bradley, associate director of housing and residential education, said the residence halls will be beneficial to first-years who want to live closer to their classes while still retaining the first-year experience. Connor, which has housed both first-years and older students, will no longer have first-years in the fall.
“What we’re trying to do is pull those from Connor and build a stronger community in Stacy and Everett," Bradley said. "We’re hoping to bring all the first year programs and activities to Stacy and Everett, as well as create a similar experience to South Campus."
Stacy and Everett together hold 189 students, so when only 135 people signed up to live there for the 2015-16 school year, the dorms closed. Bradley said he thinks the buildings will fill up in the fall.
“It would be very tight on South Campus next year. We’re pretty much full right now with first-years, so we need to expand to fit the extra first-years," he said.
Bradley said closing the residence halls this year left the housing department with less revenue, but there were still positives that came from the closing.
He said because Stacy and Everett are being used for conference groups, there has been time to update the dorms for future residents.
