Students Struggle to Find Housing After Studying Abroad

After a semester of travels and hands-on learning experiences, Marist students returned from their abroad experiences worried about finding housing.

Marist housing only guarantees on-campus housing for freshmen and sophomores. Many juniors were then left with unfavorable housing options on-campus if they did not plan for an off-campus housing location upon their return to Poughkeepsie. 

Students abroad or a part of the Marist in Manhattan program, received an email from housing in Oct. which stated, “We anticipate a campus housing shortage in the spring semester, and it’s possible that you’ll be impacted.” 

The email continued, “The College has a fixed number of beds available on campus, so if a large number of students chooses to study abroad or in Manhattan in one semester, it may limit the number of beds available on campus in the semester they return. In that case, campus housing is offered to those students with the highest priority points.”

The debate about priority points has also been a particularly intense subject. Addressing the point system was a large part of the agenda of former Student Government Association (SGA) administration under Student Body President, Ted Dolce ‘19.

The 2019 SGA proposed an abolition of the priority point system owing to its tendency to cause disproportionate effects on students of a lower socio-economic status. 

This year, the system has resumed as normal.

Sara Dacunto ‘21 returning from Florence said, “I had older friends that went abroad, and they had horror stories about coming back and trying to get housing through Marist. Some of them weren’t even granted housing and those who were, were completely separated from their friends.”

“I didn’t want to deal with the stress, which is why I decided to get a house off campus with my friends,” Dacunto said.

Many students who have returned from abroad and entered into the Marist housing system have been placed in the Foy Townhouses, Lower and Upper West — which is predominantly made up of sophomore housing. Another option was Midrise Hall — typically a freshman dorm, and formerly, a sophomore housing complex. 

Students who were placed in the North End Housing Complex seem to be the most pleased with the current housing, as it is the newest addition of dorms on the Marist campus. 

For those who did apply for on-campus housing, roommates and housing assignments were not available until Jan. 11, only nine days before move-in for the Spring semester.

Lily Horwitz ‘21, who was placed in Lower West, stated, “Considering my amount of involvement on campus and the cost of tuition prices rising every year, Marist should be handling housing while keeping these factors in mind.”

There are a variety of factors influencing students to apply for on-campus housing. Some students believe on-campus housing is safer than off-campus housing. 

Additionally, students housed on campus do not need to worry about transportation to classes; this typically applies to students who do not have the ability to bring a car to campus. 

Many students also stated they had trouble finding off-campus housing with the list that Marist housing provides to students who are not placed in an on-campus dorm. FoxRun at Fulton had filled all of its housing spots for Spring 2020.

It was then up to students to contact landlords for houses in the Poughkeepsie area with little help from the housing office at Marist. Other students stated they were able to find off campus housing options through older friends.  

Julia Meyer ‘21 who is currently living in an off-campus house, said, “I know people in grades above me who struggled to find campus housing when they came back from abroad.” 

“I decided to be proactive about this concern of mine in the early spring of my sophomore year. I thought that looking off-campus was the best option,” Meyer said.

Horwitz continued to raise a common theme among many unhappily placed students, “I love my school, but am disappointed in how they value the athletic department renovations more so then the necessary need for more on-campus housing.”

The abroad experience seemed to end on a high note for many Marist students; however, many seem to be in a phase of transition during this new semester as they settle into their new housing situations, both on or off-campus. 

Regardless of location, students seem to be in agreement that the housing situation was a stressful situation, to say the least.