More squeezing in dorms this year
More squeezing in dorms this year
Crowding in dorms across MIT remains a problem. This year, 133 students are in crowds across six dorms: McCormick, Baker, Burton-Conner, New House, Next House, and East Campus. East Campus has crowded doubles, Baker has crowded quads, and the other four dorms have crowded triples. There are “official quads” in Baker in addition to the overflow quads.
Sixteen additional students are living in suite lounges in MacGregor that have been converted to doubles, bringing the total number of students in alternate rooming arrangements to 149. The lounges were converted with the understanding that they would be returned to normal with the opening of W1, now scheduled for next fall. Dennis Collins, Director of Housing, confirmed that the lounges should be returned to common space next year.
The number of freshmen in crowded rooms is comparable with last year, though the MacGregor doubles are new. Between 85 and 90 students were crowded in fall 2008, jumping to between 130 and 135 students in fall 2009.
MacGregor suite lounges have been converted to doubles in the past because of special circumstances. After a water pipe burst in the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity house in 2008, most members of the fraternity were housed in MacGregor suite lounges. Students displaced by Hurricane Katrina had also been housed in the suite lounges.
— Margaret Cunniff