Hefley residents forced to move again

COURTNEY SOLON
DM Staff Writer

Residents of Hefley Hall had to move in to and out of their dorm in less than a week's time.

Being asked to move a second time in less than a week is too much said freshman elementary education major Ashley Mitchell from Nashville, Tenn.

"It was such a pain to do again," Mitchell said.

Residents of Hefley Hall, which is being closed for renovation in Phase I of the Phoenix Project, have found themselves being shuffled to new residence halls as room openings present themselves. Some women will even be moving into the old Zeta Tau Alpha house on Sorority Row.

The women who were living in Hefley Hall are gradually being moved into dorms as housing finds the space.

"Student Housing is going through our list of no-shows and placing girls where we can," Associate Director for Operations Dave Sagaser said. "With enrollment at a record high and more freshmen on campus,we're doing our best to place girls in other dorms."

Student Housing plans to have all residents of Hefley moved out by the end of the month Sagaser said.

Students who were here last spring were notified that Hefley would be closing. Many of the students placed in Hefley were ones whose applications came in later in the process of room assignments. Women assigned to Hefley Hall were told they were in temporary housing and knew that the dorm would be closing.

The girls are being moved into new housing based on when they sent in their $100 deposit.

"I was 26 on the list," Mitchell said. "They told me to come by on Thursday afternoon to see where my new room assignment was. Then Saturday I moved into Crosby."

Moving again, after classes have already started, presented a problem to some students.

"I was lucky because my mom was able to come help me move. We were able to move as early as Saturday, but we had to leave within three weeks. I don't know why anyone would stay longer though because it is so gross there," Mitchell said.

Freshman biology major Christina Tucker from Clinton shared Mitchell's ideas.

"Considering that I didn't like Hefley, the sooner that I moved out the better. It wasn't so bad because I had parents to come help me move again, but some of my friends didn't. It was just a huge inconvenience in the middle of classes," Tucker said.

Hefley residents have not been the only ones disrupted by the dorm reassignments.

Sarah DeBord, a sophomore French major from Wichita, Kan. and resident of Crosby Hall, said she was sitting in her room when there was a knock on the door.

"I opened the door and there was a girl standing there with a box," DeBord said. "She said she'd been told this was her new room. I was surprised because I was expecting to have a private room, but what was I supposed to tell her? So I just told her to come on in. I don't mind that they placed her here, we actually get along really well. It just surprised me when she showed up."

The total cost for Phase I of the Phoenix Project is $18 million, which will come from bonds. The renovations planned for Hefley are extensive said Sagaser.

"We are adding a new entrance and main lobby. We are also putting in a third floor lobby for residents, adding music practice rooms, redoing work in rooms and renovating and modernizing the bathrooms," Sagaser said.

The project will start in February and will continue until opening day in the fall. A temporary entrance will still be in place then and work on the formal lobby will continue into the year.