California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

California Lutheran University's Student Newspaper Since 1961

The Echo

    Applying To Live Off Campus Is Hard

    With next yearโ€™s housing applications now available, why are we required to live on campus and why is it so hard to get off campus?

    Students living on campus not within commuter boundaries are required to live on campus for at least six semesters of their schooling, according to the Resident Life page on the California Lutheran University website.

    It seems a little odd to force students to live on campus when there arenโ€™t even enough rooms available for everyone.

    There should be more lenient requirements for having to live off campus at Cal Lutheran, and the policy put in place by Res Life shouldnโ€™t be as exhausting as it is now. Students with a legitimate reason for needing to live off campus should be granted that wish.

    Along with being required to live for six semesters on campus, Cal Lutheran guarantees students housing all four years, while they are now forcing students to live five to a room in South Hall. There are also transfer students moved into off-campus apartments being rented out by Cal Lutheran. It was reportedย ย  that they will have five to a room in Pederson and Thompson next year as well because of the overflow of students.

    Junior Dean Hendrix applied to live off campus but said he was a little concerned after hearing what some of his friends went through during the process of trying to petition their housing. Though having genuine reasons that should have made petitioning easy, the process he went through was still difficult.

    โ€œItโ€™s like they want to say no to you from the beginning,โ€ Hendrix said. โ€œThey want you to have a good reason to get off, whether that be financial issues or some issue with on-campus housing which makes sense, but the whole process is just dumb.โ€

    This process includes meeting in front of a panel of representatives for the school from different departments on campus, as well as writing a paper with your reasoning as to why you think you should get to move off campus.

    These panel members include representatives from Financial Aid, Res Life, as well as Sodexo to discuss the cost of meal plans.

    Junior Evan Underwood applied to live off campus this past year and in the process of applying, was originally denied after extensive paperwork as well as an interview process.

    โ€œI had legitimate reasons. I filled out paperwork and gave reasons why I shouldnโ€™t live on campus,โ€ Underwood said. โ€œI walked out of my meeting as one of few who felt it actually went really well and it turned out that I got denied, they didnโ€™t tell me their reasoning.โ€

    Itโ€™s a seemingly flawed process. Underwood felt that a majority of students making up reasons to get off campus actually got off, while those who had financial issues and couldnโ€™t afford to live on campus were denied permission.

    Few students, however, have found their ways around the previously stated rule, Underwood said.

    โ€œI know several people who didnโ€™t turn in an application to live on campus, and didnโ€™t apply to get off campus either, and those people moved off campus, never got a charge, never lost their deposit,โ€ Underwood said.

    Underwood was later allowed to move off campus after reasoning with Res Life officials about financial issues, but too much time had already gone by because of the many petitions and paperwork Res Life needed, causing Underwood to fight again for a room on campus.

    Still in need of a solution, both Underwood and Hendrix felt the easiest way to fix the issue would be to not have such a strict policy for moving off campus.

    I also agree. Itโ€™s high time to address and fix this issue.

    Alexa Barnes
    Staff Writer