Confusion erupted among the Class of 2027 after the Office of Residence Life sent an email March 21 claiming that “at this time, it is very likely that there will not be enough current housing spaces available for you to select during this week’s process.”
Later in the email, the Residence Life said they were “confident that [they] will have enough housing spaces for all sophomore students after [they] process through typical housing changes.”
Jessica Moran-Buckridge, Ed.D., associate dean of Residence Life, reiterated this belief to The Hawk April 6.
“I want to clarify that we are sure that all residential rising sophomores will have housing in the fall,” Moran-Buckridge wrote in response to written questions from The Hawk. “We know that we will have enough space on campus for all residential rising sophomores.”
Students had issues selecting a room mainly because of the sizes of their roommate groups, Moran-Buckridge said.
“About 35 students were unable to make a selection into a housing space,” Moran-Buckridge wrote. “Often, this was because they were in a two-person roommate group and there were mostly triples in Moore Hall available at the end of housing selection.”
Moran-Buckridge said the buildings that will be used for sophomore housing next year are Lannon Hall, Rashford Hall, Ashwood Apartments, Merion Gardens, the Morris Quad Townhouses and Moore Hall, with Xavier Hall and Sullivan Hall also potentially being offered. She clarified that Sullivan Hall “may house sophomores, transfer students, or first-year students, all depending on the sizes of some of these populations.”
Currently, Xavier Hall is used for students who have transferred to St. Joe’s and Sullivan Hall is used for students in the Alliance for Catholic Education fellowship.
Students who live in Moore Hall, Xavier Hall or Sullivan Hall will not have access to a kitchen and will be required to pay for a dining plan, according to Residence Life’s website.
One student who could not make a housing selection was Lia Beltran ’27.
Two and a half hours before her pick time, Beltran received the March 21 email, which offered her the opportunity to fill out the Administrative Placement Preference Form and be placed on a waitlist for a room.
Instead of choosing one of the few remaining rooms in Moore Hall, Beltran and her roommate chose to fill out the form, which says that they will be placed together if possible.
“We’re not happy about it because it’s [a] situation we are not supposed to be going through,” Beltran said. “It’s stressful because we don’t know what we’re gonna do.”
Beltran said she and her roommate avoided Moore because of the lack of a kitchen and overall space.
“I don’t have the space I could have in Lannon or Rashford or whatever,” Beltran said. “I’m paying all that money so I can have the space.”
The cost to live in Moore Hall, Xavier Hall and Sullivan Hall during the 2024-25 academic year is $9,946 — not including a meal plan. The cost for that same period at Lannon Hall or Rashford Hall will be $12,766.
The lack of a kitchen in Moore Hall is also an issue for Jared Nachimson ’27, who split up from his group of four and secured a spot in Moore after the other buildings ran out of four-person apartments.
“I felt like sophomore year was the time where I was going to graduate into being more independent and be more self-sufficient,” Nachimson said. “But instead I just have to eat Campion again.”
Moran-Buckridge reiterated that every sophomore will be offered a place to live.
“Housing remains very fluid throughout spring and summer, as students solidify their plans for study abroad, co-ops, internships, and sometimes transfer out of SJU,” Moran-Buckridge wrote. “Every year, we know a certain percentage of students will make a housing selection and then change their plans. The rising sophomore students who currently do not have a housing assignment are well within this expected percentage. We will continue to place students into these spaces as they become available.”
