South Court will be coed by floor: men will live in the basement and first floor, while women will be on the second and third floors. North Court is also opening in spring 2017 after being renovated during the 2015-16 school year.
Carolyn Bigler, the director of undergraduate student housing, said women had not lived in South Court in more than 10 years. And they will not be living there for long. Second semester, female students living in South will move into the renovated North Court.
Every room in North will have a private bathroom or share with another room. There will only be single and double rooms.
North will not be available for housing selection for the 2016-17 academic year. It will be reserved for those moving over from South as well as students returning from abroad.
South will be closed for renovations during second semester. The staff leading the construction team asked if they could start renovations in January, rather than the summer, which is why a group of students will live in two dorms next year. This was also the driving force behind the decision to make South coed.
The coming school year will also bring with it the reclassification of what constitutes a suite. If a bedroom door opens to the hall, students can choose it as an individual room. If there is a main door before the bedroom doors, like in Lakeview, the room must be selected as a suite.
This change will not impact Gray Court, which will still be picked as suites, aside from the upperclass substance-free rooms, which are picked separately.
These changes will not significantly increase or decrease the number of rooms on campus, especially when students going abroad and moving off campus are considered.
Many students choose to stay on campus all four years. The only time it is common for students to move off campus is after they go abroad, Bigler said. This decision is usually motivated by students’ desires to live with their friends. Most come back on campus for their senior year, Bigler said.
Michele Lee, a sophomore studying abroad in the fall, plans to live on campus when she returns.
“Ideally, I would live somewhere nicer like Westhampton. But I’m hoping that North Court will be completely renovated when I get back so I could live there,” Lee said.
Some students want to go off campus but do not have the resources.
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“It’s not really an option if you don’t have a car,” said freshman Chloe Smith, who wants to live in one of the more recently renovated dorms, provided she gets a good time slot for selection.
Residence hall selection begins on April 11 and will run throughout the week. Apartment selection begins May 30.
Contact reporter Dylan Rowell at dylan.rowell@richmond.edu.
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