Incoming Freshmen Can Select Roommates in Recent Adjustment to Housing Process

Housing assignments for the class of 2024 will be available online starting August 7 and will not be solely based on a preference survey this year. The Office of Housing and Residential Life made a recent adjustment for incoming freshmen which allows them to request to live with a specific roommate(s). 

The Marist website addresses questions that first-year students may have and has been updated with the most relevant information for the 2020 fall semester. 

“Traditionally, Marist holds the ideal that the experience of living with someone whom you have not known before is both valuable and beneficial to one's growth,” the office states. “With growing concerns of the current environment, if you have a specific person you would like to live with, please email us at housing@marist.edu from your Marist email account with your request.”

The specific date for upperclassmen to select housing is currently unknown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, the Housing office sent an email to current students on April 17 stating that housing selection would take place during the week of May 18. Students were later informed on May 7 that the room selection process would be postponed until later this summer. 

“Many uncertainties remain,” the email from Housing said. “Therefore, we have decided to postpone the room selection process at this time and will resume later in the summer. Moving this process will ensure that we will have more accurate information about students living on-campus, travelling abroad, or moving off-campus. We will continue to allow students to amend their groups during this time.” 

In the past, incoming freshmen completed a preference survey which allows the Office of Housing and Residential Life to match students as roommates. The questions on the survey typically revolve around sleeping habits, activities, preferred noise level and cleanliness.

“We have introduced a new option for incoming first-year students,” Tamer Janakat, the resident director of Champagnat Hall, said in an email to the Circle. “In an effort to alleviate some of the uncertainty we are all facing during this unique time, we are allowing incoming first-year students to submit requests to be housed together with specific roommates. Incoming students interested in this new option each need to make a request and only matching requests will be considered. We are excited to offer this option to our incoming class and look forward to meeting all of our new residents in the Fall.”