Increased Enrollment Leads to Housing Dilemma at Ole Miss

Ole Miss is greatly expanding its student body numbers, and with more students comes less room. Changes to on-campus housing situations has left many current students in a frenzy looking for a place to live, but leaves some with anticipation for a new opportunity.

Freshmen Ashley Nordahl checks out tips on moving out of the dorms
for good, as housing changes have made it so that she cannot live on-campus next year.

Will University of Mississippi students be left homeless for next fall? Ole Miss has increased its enrollment numbers by an impressive amount for this upcoming 2014-2015 school year, and though this might be good for the University, it could mean bad news for its housing.

So far, there are more than 22,000 undergrads registered for the fall semester, a 3.5 percent increase from last year. Some give credit for this surge of students to Ole Miss’ stellar academic record. Others say media attention and the spotlight that’s been put on the school has drawn people to it. Whatever the reason, students are knocking at the door to get in, and Ole Miss is answering.

Crosby Hall is one of the major changes to housing next year as it

 transitions from sophomore to freshmen residents.

However, more students mean less housing. Ole Miss did not have enough room for the incoming freshman to all live on campus with the housing situation how it was. One quick fix to this was the decision to make Dorothy H. Crosby Hall completely freshmen, something that most students like to call: The Crosby Crisis. In previous years, Crosby has had a couple floors of freshman residents, with the rest being reserved for each sorority to house their sophomore members. When girls who had planned on living in Crosby next year found out the news, there was slight chaos among current freshmen students.

Freshman Ashley Nordahl, member of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, tells of her rush to find a place to live after realizing Crosby would not be available. She says, “I panicked when I heard, I think mostly because I had gone all school year counting on living in Crosby, and it was just kind of sprung on us. By the time we knew, everyone else had already signed leases and there wasn’t a lot of space anywhere. I still know people who cant find roommates or places to live.”

From a freshman’s perspective, the Crosby Crisis was a nightmare. But how does increased enrollment impact those in charge? Community Assistant Summer Wigley views the growth of the school as an opportunity for a new experience for herself and her job.

Going from mainly sophomores to all freshmen in Crosby will be a challenging adjustment for the Community Assistants, and left many soon-to-be sophomores racing to find a home. But whether you view it as a crisis or a new opportunity, the University is expanding and has to do whatever it takes to accommodate. This change was the first of many to make room for what’s anticipated to be the largest freshman class in Ole Miss history.