Medill senior Franklin Kao said he had no idea what he was signing up for when he agreed to live in any available single on campus. University Housing placed Kao in Seabury-Western Theological Seminary when Northwestern’s Counseling and Psychological Services relocated to Foster-Walker Complex. Upon returning from his journalism residency this spring, he found himself in a room without an ethernet jack and a television still in its packaging in the common room.
“It felt like they weren’t completely ready, like they thought ‘Oh shoot, a bunch of people,'” Kao said. “‘We have to fit them in right away.'”
This spring was the first time the university offered housing in a seminary building, said Mark D’Arienzo, associate director for university housing.
Housing at Seabury, which previously served as the seminary’s dormitory, will be available for 23 upperclassmen this fall, D’Arienzo said.
Seabury, 2122 Sheridan Road, announced last spring that its Board of Trustees had voted to dismiss all faculty by this June because it faced a $2.9 million debt.
The seminary leases part of its land from the university under an agreement that extends “in perpetuity” or indefinitely, said Eugene Sunshine, senior vice president for business and finance.
NU must “lease back” property from Seabury for any university use, as it did this spring to offer additional space for undergraduate housing, Sunshine said.
The university saw Seabury’s decision to downsize as a “good opportunity” to seek out space there for undergraduate housing and additional offices, he said.
“With Seabury reducing the on-campus use of their residences as they do their strategic planning, we thought it was a good chance to put some students in a spectacular building with a great location for all students, given that it’s in the middle of campus,” Sunshine said.
Other plans for the future of the seminary remain uncertain as the June date for dismissing all faculty draws closer, according to university and Seabury administrative officials.
“We are in preliminary conversations with the university regarding leasing other properties,” said Mark Miliotto, director of finance for the seminary.
Further lease options for seminary buildings could be negotiated between Seabury and NU as early as next fall, although nothing is secured yet, Miliotto said.
There have been no other discussions regarding the expansion of undergraduate housing to new locations on campus, D’Arienzo said. For next year, 2,100 spaces were set aside for returning students that he anticipates will fill. But university housing has yet to determine the number of spaces needed for incoming freshmen, he said.
Sunshine said the university’s leasing options are an ongoing discussion and the university is interested in continuing given the “convenient, central location” of the Seabury properties.
“We will continue to talk with (Seabury) to see if they have availability and we have needs that match up,” he said.
