When the class of 2014 arrived on campus just short of three weeks ago, 66 freshmen found themselves thrust into a peculiar and unexpected living situation: a one-room-triple. Though sometimes viewed as an inconvenience, students attest that the social benefits of living in a triple outweigh the dramatic loss of personal space.
“It’s really fun,” said Mary Barrett ’14 of her triple in Butterfield C. “There are times when my roommates and I will have funny conversations and mini dance parties. I really enjoy the social aspect of living in a triple.”
Living in a triple also has the benefit of creating an immediate social circle for new students.
“The best thing about living in a triple is that I instantly have someone to hang out with,” said Opraha Mile ’14. “If I were living in a single, I would have to go out and search for people to hang out with. All I have to do is turn around and ask one of my roommates if they want to go somewhere. More often than not, they’ll say yes.”
Students, however, concede that living in a triple has definite downsides.
“Sometimes you can’t just come in the room and be alone,” said Natasha Phillips ’14.
Since their inception several years ago, triples have been used to combat the space limitations caused by the University’s growing student body. At the beginning of the semester 66 students were housed in 22 triples—all located in the Butterfields and occupied exclusively by freshmen.
The rooms that serve as triples today were not originally intended to house students at all. When the Butterfields were first built, each residence hall contained single rooms with spacious lounges at the end of each hallway. These lounges were later converted into doubles and eventually into triples due to their size. Most of the triple rooms are large enough to hold three sets of furniture, as well as to place all three beds on the floor. Some rooms, however, are slightly smaller and require one of the beds to be bunked.
Introducing triples is one method Residential Life (ResLife) uses to house the University’s growing student body without building new student housing.
According to Fran Koerting, Director of ResLife the number of triples on campus will continue to increase in the future.
“We’re anticipating about 30 triples in a normal year,” she said.
According to Koerting, the decision to introduce triples was primarily a function of space.
“We started triples about four years ago,” Koerting said. “The triples were built as a part of that equation for being able to house those additional students.”
Although the majority of students in triples did not choose their living situation, incoming freshmen can elect to live in a triple through ResLife’s housing forms.
“We started asking students two years ago if they wanted to volunteer for a triple,” Koerting said. “Each year we’ve gotten between eight and ten [students] that decide they definitely want a triple.”
Beyond the social perks, students in triples also enjoy a weekly financial stipend.
“There is a slight monetary compensation,” Koerting said. “Students get $25 back for each week that they end up living in a triple.”
Freshmen in triples also have an advantage in the ResLife lottery when it comes time to choose housing for their sophomore year.
“Any freshman that starts out in a triple gets a point adjustment for the following year,” Koerting said.
ResLife uses a mathematical equation in order to determine each student’s lottery numbers in the housing draw. The point adjustment awarded to students in triples ensures that they will receive a high lottery number then their classmates.
Most often a triple is not a permanent living situation.
“Usually by January we’ve been able to de-triple all of the rooms,” Koerting said. “A lot of times we have more students studying abroad during the spring than in the fall, so that frees up more spaces for people. As we find out we have spaces, we’ll offer the students in the triples the opportunity to de-triple.”
Still, given the option not all students will choose to leave their triple.
“I like the company,” said Amy Le ’14, with a laugh. “It’s nice to have people to wake you up when you keep pressing snooze on your alarm.”
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