If you have spent time in Hofstra University’s residence halls, you have likely noticed a major disparity in the quality of first-year and upperclassmen housing. The experience of living in the freshman-only dorms, the Netherlands or Stuyvesant, is far better than living in their upperclassmen-only equivalents: Colonial Square and Nassau and Suffolk Hall, respectively.
This poses a major problem for Hofstra, as residents begin with the phenomenal experience of living in first-year housing only to be disappointed in subsequent years as their experiences do not match up.
Disparities between first-year and upperclassmen housing are evident just by walking in and around different residence halls. It is hard to believe both the Netherlands and Colonial Square are located at the same school. The Netherlands’ courtyard’s beautiful stonework, hanging lights and simple layout add to a feeling of warmth and welcoming that is not felt as much in Colonial Square’s long, winding and dimly lit paths.
Even the location of first-year housing is exponentially better than that of upperclassmen housing. Halls like Stuyvesant and the Netherlands are far closer to South Campus and the David and Sondra S. Mack Student Center than Colonial Square and Nassau-Suffolk are. Colonial Square is so far from everything that the most efficient path students use to get from its easternmost houses to the Student Center cuts through the middle of the Intramural Fields. If the best path to get from a dorm to class is through an unpaved, in-use field, the dorm is either too far from everything or needs a better path.
And we have yet to talk about the Netherlands Core. The Core is one-of-a-kind. There is no other dorm on campus with an eatery. Even though I love the core, having a dining hall with near-identical hours and at such proximity to the Student Center Café is redundant. That is not to say that we should get rid of the core, but the dining needs of residents in upperclassmen housing should be considered. Since Colonial Square and Nassau and Suffolk are so far from eateries that are open during the day, a resource, such as the core, close to or within these halls would be life-changing.
Another detriment to upperclassmen housing is budget. Simply put, resident assistants (RAs) in upperclassmen housing do not get the same resources as those in first-year housing. I currently work as an RA in Colonial Square and, from my own budget and conversations with other RAs in different halls, I found that your average RA in upperclassmen housing has around $100 to work with per semester, and this figure is neither uniform nor exact across campus. Last year, as an RA in Vander Poel Hall, one of the towers, my semesterly programming budget was a whopping $35. In comparison, some first-year RAs in the Netherlands have 1,000s of dollars with which to plan and execute programs for their residents.
This is why programming in the Netherlands can range from elephant toothpaste demonstrations to trips off campus, whereas programming everywhere else is far less expansive or impressive.
RA events are meant to build community within the residence halls, give residents something fun to do and craft a positive perception of on-campus living. However, because upperclassmen RAs lack the resources to make memorable and unique events, many residents feel apathetic about these events, severing the upperclassmen’s relationship with residence life.
This disparity between upperclassmen and first-year housing affects anyone who plans to live on campus, as their on-campus living experience is bound by their class standing. With a system such as the one outlined here, it is no wonder so many upperclassmen students opt to live off-campus and deal with rent, bills and landlords rather than stay in our upperclassmen halls.
