Renee Yu
Edited in Prisma app with Gothic
Residence halls are sometimes seen because the greatest housing choice due to the benefits they provide to college students. For instance, they permit residents to be extra academically engaged due to proximity to assets. UT even encourages freshmen to contemplate dwelling in College residence halls, however as a way to even appeal to residents, all dorms have to be as much as par.
There are at the moment 15 residence halls on campus. The College claims to “present clear, enticing, protected services for campus residents,” however curtains as a substitute of doorways for communal showers is neither enticing nor does it depart residents feeling protected.
The College must renovate residence corridor dorms by altering communal showers curtains to doorways to extend pupil privateness and luxury.
The truth that some communal showers in residence halls have doorways whereas others have curtains isn’t truthful to college students. Whether or not or not a communal bathe has doorways also can rely on the ground inside a particular dorm. This inconsistency creates unequal requirements of privateness. Some college students are involved with this lack of privateness, and if the state of affairs doesn’t enhance, it might doubtlessly flip away potential on-campus residents.
Enterprise honors freshman Ramya Nambala stated the College might be discouraging college students from dwelling in residence halls with the present setup of communal showers.
“(Communal) loos and the shortage of safety inside them makes individuals extra hesitant to decide on that dorm,” Nambala stated.
Making a protected and welcoming surroundings for all college students must be a high precedence for the College. Present dorm residents won’t really feel safe utilizing communal showers, as college students have cited quite a lot of embarrassing occurrences prior to now.
“There’s one incident the place I had the curtain closed and somebody wished to examine and see if there was any individual within the bathe I used to be in. The curtain was barely open and that was actually awkward. (Bathe doorways) would make issues much more comfy,” Nambala stated.
As many as 70% of college college students develop emotions of homesickness. It’s already arduous sufficient for college kids to depart residence in pursuit of their research; it shouldn’t should be uncomfortable too.
Don Ates, director of residential services for UT, stated the funds constricts sure renovation initiatives however that the College has been taking a look at potential methods to extend privateness in dorms due to previous pupil considerations.
“Anytime we hear any considerations from college students, we take them very significantly. … We all the time search for alternatives to renovate to try to meet pupil wants,” Ates stated.
The very best resolution to deal with these pupil considerations is with bathe doorways. It must be a precedence to make the residence halls really feel as home-like and safe as potential, so college students really feel comfy staying in dorms.
With a view to make residence halls extra enticing and cozy for college kids, the College ought to renovate dorms by altering communal showers to incorporate doorways. All college students deserve the fitting to a protected, comfy and personal on-campus dwelling expertise.
DonJuan is a Plan II and economics freshman from Quanah, TX.