By Tristan Weisenbach
Managing Editor
Nearly a year after Residential Education and Housing postponed its plan to implement a requirement that all first-year students live on-campus, with a handful of exemptions, the College announced earlier this month that it has reversed course and will once again implement this requirement beginning in fall 2025.
In November 2023, ResEd decided to stop pursuing a first-year residential requirement after receiving pushback from students and worries about how the development of the plan would impact the workloads of the department’s staff.
Kelly Hennessy, assistant vice president of student development, told The Signal at the time that there were no plans to implement a first-year residential requirement again in the upcoming years, but that the department would potentially examine the policy in the future.
The re-implementation of this policy was announced by Tina Tormey, director of Residential Education and Housing, during a Student Government meeting on Oct. 2. In her presentation, Tormey stated that national studies have shown positive benefits for students living on campus, but also said there are a lot of unknowns that will need to be monitored throughout the implementation of the policy at the College.
Little has changed over the past year at the College to convince me that now is a better time to implement this policy. Because of this, my opinion on why this policy is not the right choice has not changed from last year.
One of the main reasons I chose to attend the College instead of another school was because of its affordability and close proximity to where I live, in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. By living only 12 miles from The College — just a 25 minute drive — I save more than $6,000 per year by not paying the cost of room and board and a required meal plan.
ResEd’s residential requirement plan will institute an exemption, among others, for any student who lives with a parent or guardian within a 10-mile radius of the College. If the policy were in place when I was a first-year student, I would not have had the option of commuting because I live two miles too far.
In addition to the cost-saving benefit, living in a dorm doesn’t appeal to me, whether it’s at the College or at any other school. When committing to a college, I wanted to choose a school where I could commute, and I’m sure many other students prefer this option as well.
The College wants to implement this plan because of the academic and social benefits it would provide. While this may be true for some students, forcing first-year students to live on campus is not an all-encompassing solution to providing a well-rounded educational and social experience.
From my experience as a senior commuter student, my social interaction at college over the last three years has stemmed from meeting people in my classes and becoming involved with student organizations, such as The Signal.
A better policy idea to bolster student interaction would be a requirement for all first-year students to be an active member of a recognized student organization. The College has an impressive list of over 200 RSOs, providing ample opportunity for any student to find something that interests them.
Not only would such a policy provide a stronger sense of social community for students, but it would also give them an additional experiential component to include on their resume.
ResEd’s decision to implement a first-year residential requirement was clearly made with positive student outcomes in mind, and in theory could improve some students’ college experiences. However, it fails to recognize the implications of such a plan on the portion of the student population that intentionally chooses to attend the College because of the option it currently provides to NOT live on campus.
I strongly encourage ResEd and other departments in charge of implementing this policy to rethink their choice and explore other policy options, such as requiring student organization involvement, before they allow a detrimental policy to discourage some prospective students from applying in the coming months.
