While many students might shudder at the concept of off-campus housing, some believe it is one of the University’s best-kept secrets.
“I can have unlimited tapestries and candles burning at the same time, and a kegger going on simultaneously,” said Angus Dykman ’09. “So that’s nice.”
Despite the fact that some students might actually prefer off-campus housing, the University does not always encourage it. Currently, students must apply to live off-campus and are subject to fines and Student Judicial Board action if they move off-campus without permission. So few people apply to live off-campus, however, that ResLife has not yet had to deny any upperclassmen from off-campus status.
For ResLife, there are only three categories of students with a legitimate need to live off-campus: those who are over the age of 25, those who are married or have a child, and those who have medical needs or an ailing relative to whom they must attend. Each February, ResLife grants five to ten students off-campus status on the basis of these conditions.
Additionally, many of the students living off-campus this year applied because they were assigned undesirable housing through the General Room Selection (GRS) process.
Last year, two of these students were Grace Lesser ’08 and Jenna Gordon ’09. While Lesser was placed in a house on Washington Street, Gordon was given a spot in the Hewitt dorms.
Dykman, meanwhile, saw his housing group disintegrate while he was abroad, and therefore was faced with the prospect of living with strangers in Low Rise or High Rise.
All three chose to move off-campus, and are happy with this decision. Some were quick to point out that they not only live in a nicer space than their on-campus classmates, but also pay significantly less.
Dykman, for example, estimated that he is paying half of what it would cost to live on-campus.
Lesser is similarly satisfied, estimating that each of her housemates are paying about $1,000 less than they would have paid for on-campus housing, even with utilities.
“And we live in a nice family house; we’re probably paying one and a half times as much as is normal [for off-campus housing],” she said.
Despite the potential monetary benefits, off-campus housing does present the extra concern of being mindful of neighbors, as a noise complaint could draw the Middletown Police.
“You’re not living in Wesleyan housing—you’re responsible for yourself,” Gordon said. “If you live off-campus and you have a party, the cops get called.”
Some students find ResLife’s somewhat strict policy on off-campus housing counter-intuitive.
“Why is it harder to live off-campus now than it was, when people are in bad housing?” Lesser asked.
Some students speculate that mandatory on-campus housing might create revenue for the University the way that the mandatory meal-plan ensures a food service profit. Notably, some Beta brothers have been forced to pay for both on-campus housing and a room at the Beta fraternity, which is officially considered off-campus housing. Beta declined to comment here.
Director of Residential Life Fran Koerting points out that the University puts all of the money gained from room and board back into the University, so no real profit is being made.
“That money is going into the University Fund; it’s going to other activities,” Koerting said.
The real reason the University encourages on-campus housing, Koerting said, is to build community. In fact, this policy is one of the reasons she took a job at the University.
“It speaks volumes to how much Wesleyan really values [student life] inside of the classroom and outside of the classroom,” she said.
However, this may not be quite the kind of community life students crave. Dykman, who shares his house with undergraduates who attend Connecticut State University and a graduate student in law school, enjoys living slightly outside the University bubble.
“It kind of reminds you that Wesleyan isn’t the only place in the world,” he said.
Koerting is hesitant to allow underclassmen off-campus status, and has denied rising sophomores in the past.
“I think that it’s a lot to put on the student’s plate,” she said.
Upperclassmen living off-campus, however, do not seem to feel overwhelmed by this responsibility.
“It’s been great—we have great landlords, and we’re pretty competent people, so we can generally fix what breaks,” Lesser said.
It is common for students who live off-campus one year to return to on-campus housing the next. Dykman, for example, decided to pay University room-rates next year because his housing group got a good pick GRS pick.
“There weren’t a lot of off-campus houses left,” he said of the decision. “We figured it was worth it to live where we really wanted to live: on Home Avenue.”
Gordon, meanwhile, already lives in an off-campus residence on Home Avenue, and has successfully applied to live off-campus again next year.
“We’re really, really happy,” she said.
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