Rooms of three students have formed in male on-campus housing
Photo by Sydney Pressley.
The status of male on-campus housing has encountered a unique challenge this semester, resulting in up to three students being assigned to the same room.
Each of the male dorms on campus—Hicks, Medlin, Brinsfield Row, and Bowdle and O’Bannon Halls—have been affected by an influx of new and returning male students.
Caleb Montgomery, resident director of Bowdle and O’Bannon (BOB) Halls, has tackled managing the well-being of over 255 residents during his first year as RD with enthusiasm.
“It’s been a lot of fun, [and] it’s been difficult at times,” Mongomery said. “There’s an overwhelming amount of guys in BOB [with] just the capacity that the building has, it’s a little difficult.”
In BOB, four male students typically share a suite containing two rooms—each with a pair of students—connected by a bathroom. However, some suites have now taken in a fifth student, resulting in three students sharing one room.
“It’s pretty cool that in my first year as an RD we have the biggest BOB family, if you will, on record,” Montgomery said. “So we’re super excited about that—it has made the process a little bit more challenging, but the guys that have welcomed another roommate have been excellent.”
Beds in such rooms are lofted for free—a service that would normally run about $150—and are bunked, increasing the rooms’ floor spaces.
D’Metri Mattocks, resident director of Medlin, shares Montgomery’s optimism, and expressed his contentment with the resolution of the issue posed by the potential for overcrowding.
“We’ve been able to get a few 3-person rooms going, which is honestly—for the guys who engaged in them—they’ve communicated great things,” Mattocks said. “They all got to decide who they wanted to live with and get a loft without any charge, as well as a special discount on their housing, so it worked out pretty well.”
Residents of BOB regularly play a game called “spud” with pool balls. Photo by Matthew Taylor.
Freshman nursing major Dawson Horton is one such resident who has taken in a third roommate as part of the initiative described by Mattocks.
“I absolutely love calling BOB my home,” Horton said. “I am aware of the three to a room [situation]—my suite and I actually had made the decision to bring in a third. Although I understand space is tight with a third, the community and family [aspects] of it [are] so worth it.”
To learn more about Residential Life & Housing, additional information can be found on on Lee Univeristy’s website. The Office of Residential Life & Housing can be reached by phone at (423) 614-6000, or by email at housing@leeuniversity.edu.
