Photo courtesy of Hofstra Residence Life
“Reside with pride,” reads posters around Hofstra, urging us to live on campus. With this slogan, as well as the price of dorms, it’s fair that expectations are high of what dorm-life will be like. These are students’ homes away from home, where they should feel comfortable. The price that residents pay for on-campus housing is unreasonable when you acknowledge the fact that most of them are outdated, unsanitary and overall unappealing.
With the number of campus tours increasing, it’s not uncommon to find a group of high schoolers and their parents walking through Bill of Rights Hall, which is shocking because the second you enter, its flaws are apparent. The majority of Hofstra’s dorms, including Bill of Rights, are prone to leaks, so it’s common to see water marks on the ceilings or cracking ceiling tiles, as well as wet floor signs in hallways surrounded by puddles of water. For touring students, the building’s poor vanity and obvious physical damage would be a deterrent to opting for Hofstra.
A single dorm costs $7,599 per term, while the national average for college dorms is $6,106, making Hofstra’s dorms much higher in price. Considering that students are expected to pay these high rates, they may be left unsatisfied with the conditions of the rooms and feel as though they are being overcharged.
Students have claimed that their rooms were dirty or needed maintenance upon moving in. These claims include fingerprints on the walls, broken furniture, clumps of hair, dust or dirt in corners and mold in the showers. The cleaning and repairs that are intended to be finished before move-in day are neglected or at least rushed. There should be a level of care and attention to detail before move-in day for students to feel comfortable in their new environment. There have also been numerous sightings of mice and bugs, like cockroaches, in the dorms, raising a serious red flag about their cleanliness. Some of the buildings have been renovated within the past few years.
\In February, Residence Life announced in an email sent to all residents that Constitution Hall would be closed for “building improvements,” but it is unclear what those entail. There are minor alterations that the buildings need that can be completed quickly, which would enhance our experience. For one thing, it would be a huge step if the showers were renovated. They differ depending on the floor and building, but there should be one continuous model and should include doors rather than plastic curtains. The curtains are currently replaced regularly since they are difficult to clean, thus contributing to waste and plastic pollution. Doors would eliminate this problem and improve the cleanliness of the showers.
Another renovation that would greatly benefit residents is changing or at least updating the HVAC systems in the towers. The rooms allow barely any control of the temperature, making them either too hot or too cold. Once the heat is turned on, it stays on. So, on a day when the temperature outside reaches 70 degrees, the buildings are still being heated. We all prefer different temperatures, so we should be able to control the climate of our rooms so we can feel comfortable. The HVAC systems don’t have a fan setting that would increase airflow into the rooms, making them stuffy and uncomfortable. This problem cannot be solved by opening the windows either, because they can only be slightly opened.
Students are constantly complaining about the condition and price of the dorms, so why isn’t more being done? There is surely enough money to make proper renovations and to have more intensive sanitary measures, as well as more prompt maintenance work.
