AARON SKUBBY, Asst. News Editor—The 2020-2021 academic year will feature a host of student housing changes, including renovations, restructuring, and the brand new Silverstein Hall.
Student Housing Operations and Planning has posted fliers in various residence halls advertising the new changes that will be introduced next school year.
First, five halls will be receiving renovations. This includes Smith Hall, Shorney Hall, Crawford Hall, and Curtis East and West which will be combined to be “Curtis Hall.”
The renovations will include “new hard flooring, new mattresses, better lighting, paint, furniture, restroom and lounge improvements” according to the fliers.
First-Year students will be living in Smith, Shorney, and Crawford halls. Shorney and Crawford are the two largest halls on Denison’s campus.
The poster explained that this change helps First-Year students “meet each other and build community as a class.”
Kat Amiet ‘23 commented on the changes. “I think it’s smart for Denison to put [freshmen] together. First off because Denison’s freshman class size has been increasing steadily every year, you need large residence halls. Second off, it creates a broad connection over the first-years.”
Upperclassmen will live in smaller communities, which is intended to help them “foster close connections they’ve been building over the years.”
For the Fall of 2020, laundry will also be included in students room fees, so students will not need to pay each time they do laundry.
Residence halls will also be receiving new machines in 2020. Many students have requested this change, due to broken or poor laundry machines.
The posters advertise additional changes to come down the road, such as a “full historical renovation of King Hall in 2020-2021,” a “renovation of East, Huffman and Shaw in Summer 2021,” and the “continued removal of carpet throughout residence halls.”
With ever increasing class sizes, Denison has been looking to meet the increased demand for housing.