As sophomores for the first time are required to live on campus, city and University officials are still waiting on data about the impact of the change but remain hopeful for positive outcomes.

Under the Housing Master Plan, both first-year and second-year students are required to live on campus. According to executive director of residential services Jennifer Luttig-Komrosky, the requirement — which can be fulfilled in Greek housing or residence halls — aims to create a broader and more inclusive community of students.
But Luttig-Komrosky said that as of now, they don’t have the data to see whether their goals have been accomplished.

“We won’t have full realization until the end of this academic year,” Luttig-Komrosky said.

She said residential services will collect this data through its biennial Residential Community Survey, which is conducted in December to receive feedback from students living in residential housing. The data will inform future residential community programming, she said.

As for the city, Ald. Robin Rue Simmons (5th) said she has not noticed an impact on vacancies in the 5th Ward as a result of the live-in requirement — although she did expect some change.

However, Rue Simmons said if property owners eventually decide to convert student housing into family homes, the improvements would require some investment.

Hannah Siegel, a McCormick sophomore, said living on campus this year has not yet strengthened her sense of residential community because she doesn’t see her dorm as her main social space.
Still, the requirement has its advantages, Siegel said, and she probably would have lived on campus regardless.

“Sophomore year, we’re still getting settled in,” she said. “I don’t think I need to have all those responsibilities sophomore year and I think I’ll learn them junior and senior year — which is plenty of time to gain those responsibilities before going out into the real world.”

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