A proposed premium pricing model for select first-year residence halls is currently being discussed
Spencer Gilbert
Contributing Writer
The Student Government Association (SGA) has begun talks with The College of Wooster administration regarding the future of Babcock and Bornhuetter Halls.
The residence halls are scheduled for renovation this upcoming summer, which will include the installation of air conditioning. The pricing model for these residence halls after their renovations is still under discussion.
Members of SGA became aware of the College’s plans this past June, when the Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the Board of Trustees, Stephen Gault, made the announcement during the open session of the meeting of the full Board.
The College’s campus master plan calls for the eventual renovation of all residence halls, which is likely to include air conditioning. However, discussions in SGA thus far have not revolved around the issue of the air conditioning itself.
The focus of the student concerns has largely been based in the possible changes to the pricing of the residence halls, particularly due to their current status as First Year Centers.
Currently, all students in First Year Centers are charged the College’s base housing price. Many students have expressed reservations regarding the possible effects that expanding premium pricing to first year students could have on the educational experiences of first year students.
Spencer Gilbert ’17, president of SGA, Jack Johanning ’17, chair of Campus Council, and Chadwick Smith ’17, president of the Black Students Association, detailed their concerns in a letter sent to several administrators.
The letter stated that the students “believe that any separation of students based upon socioeconomic status, especially in the first year, could have terribly detrimental effects on both the quality of education and the quality of the community that The College of Wooster provides.”
The students also requested that the “renovations of Bornhuetter and Babcock Halls, and their subsequent increases in pricing, not occur until the administration of The College of Wooster engages in a robust and comprehensive community dialogue, with the intent of discovering what effects this change would have on student life at the College.”
In a response to the students, President Sarah Bolton stated that College of Wooster administrators, “definitely do want to be in conversation with students about this more fully” and that “the cabinet has already been discussing the question of the potential effects of premium pricing structure if they were to be in place for first year students.”
President Bolton also stated that “making needed improvements (including air conditioning) to Bornhuetter and Babcock wouldn’t necessarily require that premium pricing be enacted for first year students.”