The Orbis

Issue date: 9/11/07 Section: Issues

Media Credit: Madeleine Fentress

Is Vanderbilt's flat housing cost of $3,728 per semester too much to pay for our quality of housing? For residents of The Commons, the answer is probably no. But for residents of Towers, Vandy/Barnard and dreaded Kissam, the answer is most likely a resounding yes.

Regardless of where you live on campus, you're paying the exact same amount as someone in a residence hall that is either much nicer or much worse than the one in which you live. Is this fair? Well, yes it is.

An oft-suggested solution to the disparity between residence halls is to charge a different rate per dormitory. Some schools charge by square footage, number of occupants, amenities offered or just general quality of housing. For example, the University of Tennessee charges as much as $2,792 per semester for a four-person apartment-style dorm and as little as $1,550 per semester for a single in a single-sex dorm.

While this may seem like a much better situation than the one at Vanderbilt, where we pay the same amount whether we live in a suite or the tiniest single on campus, there are a multitude of negative points. The dorms have different visitation restrictions based on class year, not all of them are air-conditioned, and many are single-sex buildings.

But perhaps the most striking problem is the fact that if a student cannot afford the more expensive, nicer housing, that student is essentially stuck in a dorm with possibly fewer amenities, as well as certain visitation restrictions.

Though probably not intentional, the difference in the cost of housing only further serves to highlight class division in higher education. Students with more money will likely reside in the nicer dorms because they can afford them, while students who fall lower on the socioeconomic ladder are more likely to end up in the dorms with less to offer.

Since students may rank their residence hall preferences in systems such as UT's, they must choose ones that also fit within their financial means. Barring assistance like financial aid, students who cannot afford the more expensive housing all end up in the same place and thus are identifiable as poorer than their classmates, unable to afford nicer housing.

With Vanderbilt's housing lottery, there is some degree of choice in residence, yet it is nearly arbitrary since everything costs the same. Unless you badly want a kitchen and a couch, you're not getting much less of a deal by living in a single rather than a suite or apartment.

Vanderbilt's system does not in any way separate rich from poor since all the dorms cost the same, and provides one less way for students to judge one another based on socioeconomic status. It also provides a less homogenous living environment by having co-ed dorms, placing athletes in the same areas as other students and limiting residency in Greek houses.

Of course, any university has plenty of room for improvement, but the housing system is one thing Vanderbilt gets right. Though some aspects of the school do indeed serve to further socioeconomic and racial divisions, housing is one of the few that does not contribute to these stratifications.

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