Administration overlooks housing

   When I heard in my junior year that Chapman was going to be accepting its largest freshman class for the second year in a row, I could not help but wonder what the administration was thinking. This was the year it had to start encouraging local freshmen to commute to school. This was the year that it had to turn away more sophomores than ever. Sure, Jerry Price, vice chancellor for student affairs and dean of students, asked us for our opinion in his weekly events email, and the student body expressed its dismay at the university's actions. The university's reply was that a higher percentage of returning students wanted to stay on campus than predicted.

    There is a major problem with that line of reasoning. In my freshman and sophomore years, I had to switch roommates. Both times, my options were extremely limited as there was already no space. This meant that Chapman already didn't have the space to accept more students. Instead, it did it all over again this year, accepting more freshmen than the previous two years.

    Now, with the Filmmakers' Village delayed for an additional years, I think Chapman cares more about increasing its profits from students without actually helping us. Sure, it's not the university's fault that its running into issues while building the new residence halls. It is, however, the university's fault that it continually accepts more students without actually building the facilities to accommodate them. I cannot stress enough that this is reckless and irresponsible, and it completely disregards the needs of students who may not be ready to live off campus or cannot afford a car or the gas to commute.

    It is not easy to find affordably, decent and, most important, local off-campus housing when the majority of the student body is forced to look for alternatives to residence halls. I understand that this may sound silly, coming from a senior about to graduate and thus no longer affected by such matters, but the reality is I know how difficult it can be to move off campus when you have no other options. It can be a difficult task to endure, especially if you are moving in with friends who turn out to be not-so-great roommates. After going through all of that, it's not something I would wish upon anyone without the proper preparation.

    Unfortunately, Chapman does not provide that type of training. Maybe instead of wasting its time blaming the students for problems for which it should have been prepared, the university could make an effort to help students transition from on-campus to off-campus housing – or, at the very least, accept only as many students as they had space for last year.

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