University officials and student activists discussed residential equity, including the future of Trent Dormitory and the Epworth/SHARE selective house, at an open forum sponsored by the Independent Students Association and held in the Marketplace on East Campus Thursday evening.
Panelists at the sparsely attended forum included Barbara Baker, dean of student development, Janet Dickerson, vice president for student affairs and several student activists including Trinity juniors Adam Mitchell, immediate past president of the Independent Students' Association and Lino Marrero, president-elect of Duke Student Government and Trinity senior Sheela Sathyanarayana, co-president of Spectrum.
The forum's discussion focused on the geographic distribution of independents versus members of selective living groups and fraternities on West Campus, and the resulting lack of selective houses in Trent Dormitory. This distribution-viewed as unfair by many independent students-is a product of the Board of Trustees' December 1994 adoption of a new residential plan, which also created an all-freshman East Campus.
"Why is the policy such that students have to earn the right to live on West?" asked Trinity freshman and audience member Azim Barodawala, referring to the fact that of all the rising sophomores, only members of selective living groups are guaranteed housing on West next year. Independents who enter either the Central Campus or West housing lottery face the possibility of being placed in Trent for their sophomore year.
"It was recognized that selective living houses might have more of a challenge maintaining themselves at a location like Trent," Dickerson said, adding that prior to the proposal, the placing of selective houses or fraternities on East was viewed as a punishment. When changing the residential system, she said, "we wanted to have a clean slate where no group was penalized."
In response, Mitchell said he viewed the existence of all selective living groups as inherently unequal and opted for their closing, although he said he does not believe such an occurrence is likely. Attempting to address Mitchell's suggestion as well as some of the current residential plan's inequities, however, Dickerson pointed out that making everyone the same is not going to make everyone comfortable.
The 1994 housing plan created a positive academic and social environment for first-year students, Dickerson continued. The University "normalized the environment for first-year [students] and created an abnormal situation for one group-one quad-Trent," she said.
But Barodawala said that the situation creates some unfair consequences for students forced to live in Trent. Citing the distance between the dorm and West, he said that students who live in Trent are placed at an academic disadvantage and their ability to participate in extra-curricular activities is compromised.
Marrero said that although he agrees displeasure with Trent stems from its location, he noted that it does provide an atmosphere with fewer distractions. "If I lived on West," he said, "I'd find a lot more to do."
As student complaints about Trent continue, Dickerson said that the University is considering the construction of a new residential hall on West Campus, perhaps the location of the Edens Quadrangle parking lot. "It's a blue-sky option," she said, "because at this point we don't have a funding plan for a new dorm."
Still, Dickerson defended the viability of Trent as a positive residential experience. "Trent is isolated from others, but, in fact-like Epworth-it is a community for those who are there," she said.
Discussion soon turned to the future of Epworth Dormitory on East Campus when Trinity junior Beth Heywood, an officer of Epworth/SHARE, voiced her concern about the possible relocation of SHARE to another dormitory-perhaps Trent (see related story, pg. 1). The potential relocation of SHARE, Dickerson said, will depend on the number of people expected to live in the house next year.
As of Feb. 21, the group had only 32 of the 52 available spaces filled, but more residents have since been added. The group will submit its revised list of residents Friday to Bill Burig and will receive notice by the end of next week as to its status, Dickerson said. "We're trying to give them every chance in Epworth space," she said.
Epworth/SHARE, as the only upperclass living group on the all-freshman East, has also been asked to justify their assistance to freshmen's first-year experience. "We see ourselves as guidance for freshmen on East," SHARE officer and engineering junior Vanessa Smith said. Baker disagreed, however, saying that Epworth is "not the atmosphere [first-year students] feel comfortable in."
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