Until yesterday both Jesse Perry and Brian Jenn-Joseph called a seventh floor South Quad lounge home.
Perry and Jenn-Joseph had the largest rooms on their floor. The only drawback was they had to live out of their suitcases and remain ready to move at any moment.
Because residence halls are overcrowded again this year, Perry and Jenn-Joseph are among 34 first-year male students who are shuffling between rooms.
Along with two other roommates, Perry and Jenn-Joseph had plenty of room for their belongings amidst various couches, tables and assorted lounge furniture.
"My mom was kind of actually relieved," said Jenn Joseph, an LSA first-year student. "I really wasn't that angry, just as long as I knew I would be placed."
Jenn-Joseph was given clearance yesterday to move into a South Quad double room, while Perry is still waiting for word on where he will end up.
Aside from the minority of students who are in housing limbo, most students have moved into their residence hall rooms - some with the help of members of the Greek community.
Roughly 550 volunteers representing the Black Greek Association, the Interfraternity Council and the Panhellenic Association helped first-year students ease their first-day jitters and move belongings into their residence hall rooms Saturday and Sunday.
Interfraternity Council Vice President for External Affairs Inder Singh said the event, which became large-scale just this year, was organized to benefit various students.
"Freshmen have a really tough time adjusting," Singh said.
Singh said the move-in project got positive reactions from the majority of students.
"They were extremely grateful for making this an easier experience," he said. "Hopefully, new students will have a better image of the Greek System."
Housing Director Alan Levy said the Housing Office can't give dorm rooms to the 34 unplaced students who now live in lounges of South Quad, Bursley and Mary Markley residence halls until today because of legal restrictions. He said empty rooms for "no-show" students can only be redistributed today according to the lease agreement.
"Until the legally applicable clause in our lease can be carried out, we don't have a right to carry that out," Levy said.
Levy said the housing shortage can be attributed to a number of factors, including the enrollment of one of the largest first-year classes ever and the student housing reapplication rate.
Levy predicts that the University is housing roughly 200 more first-year students than in previous years.
To compensate for the large proportions of incoming students, the Housing Office extended first-year student spaces to Baits residence hall on North Campus, which usually houses upper-class students. They also allowed about 50 students to break residence hall leases without penalty.
Levy said the construction of a new residence hall is not an option the University is currently considering.
"It's a University decision that will definitely have to be approved by the Board of Regents and we are some distance from a discussion about that," Levy said.
Jason Stonehouse, Bursley Hall Council president, said the lack of student housing is a factor he has come to expect with the commencement of each school year.
"In the past, we've had students live in the lounges for up to three weeks," Stonehouse said.
"It's not as if they're being forced to live in tents outside - they do have rooms," he said.
Courtney Babb, a Bursley residence hall director, said it's unfortunate that some students have to begin their college days living in lounges, but it's only temporary.
"They're there with the rest of the residents," Babb said. "So, I think they still have a good opportunity to get to know some of the other students before classes begin."
"They're not isolated from the rest of the residents," she said.
Perry said he actually likes the large South Quad lounge.
"We have this bond," Perry, an Engineering first-year student, said of the unplaced students.
JONATHAN SUMMER/Daily
LSA first-year student Brian Jean-Joseph, from New Jersey, and Engineering first-year student Jesse Perry, from Missouri, spend time yesterday in a South Quad lounge, their temporary home.