Editorial:

Freshmen deserve the real college experience

Published Oct. 23, 2009

When ROAR opens next spring, things could be a little different for returning students. The Department of Residential Life and the Residence Halls Association are discussing the possibility of giving freshmen first preference in choosing rooms on campus.

With the increase in enrollment and the number of upperclassmen staying on campus, spaces are running out in the residence halls.

It makes sense for freshmen to have first preference. They are the only class required to live in residence halls. To make this a requirement and then give them last pick is inherently unfair, with MU running out of space to put its students.

Some freshmen end up living at Tiger Diggs or Campus Quads, which is not the best situation for them. Sometimes, freshmen end up in the same apartment as seniors, which is usually not ideal. Also, freshmen are less likely than upperclassmen to have their own cars. Thus, living off campus can be inconvenient.

The whole point of making freshmen live in the residence halls is to add to their college experience. Freshmen living at Tiger Diggs or Campus Quads are living in a very different environment than in a residence hall and are being robbed of the experience of living in a residence hall as a freshman.

In an ideal world, the university would be providing enough places for everyone who wants to live on campus. Unfortunately, we are not in a position to do that.

Obviously, if a returning student wants to stay in their same room as the year before, he or she should be allowed to. But that is where the preference should end until the incoming freshmen have picked their rooms.

It is unfair of the university to require freshmen to live in residence halls and then give them the scraps of what is left over after upperclassmen have picked over everything.