We all know what happens every April on the third floor of Slayter. Nervous freshmen watch their dreams of living in Shaw or Beaver fade the moment they take their seats for lottery. Seniors cry, swear, roll their eyes when Upper Elm fills up and their relegated to living in Stone.
Everyone is upset.
We recognize that there doesn’t seem to be a “better” way. Kenyon and Ohio Wesleyan, our peer schools, both use some form of lottery systems. And we think it’s safe to say that students at those schools are probably feeling the same way we are.
After all, what’s the better option? A meritocracy? Highest GPA earners get priority? Seems unfair to the Physics major who struggles to hold on to a 3.0 GPA versus the Communication major who pulls down straight A’s.
Or maybe, we could do a school wide lottery, disregarding seniority. How funny would it be to see sophomores living in Chamberlin apartments while seniors scowl at their doubles in Shorney?
We know that both of those options are ludicrous, unfair, and quite frankly, not going to happen.
But we don’t know that lottery is the best system.
When students offer to “buy” lottery numbers from one another or other acts that can be considered “lottery fraud”, why does housing become so upset, so surprised when these things happen? As the title of this piece says, we become insane and desperate enough to do anything to avoid another year in Crawford or to clench the perfect apartment for our last year.
We at The Denisonian send a charge to the Committee on Residential Life and all administrators affiliated with housing: Find us something better, something more equitable, more practical, and more efficient.