On Thursday, the Office of Residence Life held the housing lottery for Woodland Hall, as construction of the new hall continues.
Construction began in 2023 and is projected to be completed this summer in time for students to move in for the fall semester. Assistant Vice President and Dean of Residence Life and Auxiliary Services Mark Zeno explained that Woodland Hall was designed based on student input regarding the need for new, updated housing.
With the flexibility of additional beds for students, ResLife plans to use the completion of a new dorm as the kickoff of larger scale changes to housing and dining.
“Woodland gives Oberlin the opportunity to start looking at other residential buildings that need to be assessed to see their viability for renovation, demolition, or discussion of a new residence hall [built] in its place,” Zeno wrote in an email to the Review.
The Woodland Lottery received 1,241 student applications
The new hall has four floors and 402 beds. It is primarily composed of four-person suites with a private bedroom for each resident. The rooms also include a shared bathroom, kitchenette, and dining area. The kitchenette includes a sink, refrigerator/freezer, and a microwave. They do not include a stove or oven.
College third-year Valerie Clelland, who is registered to live in the dorm next year, said that she is excited about the opportunity.
“I’m excited to live in the new dorm next year,” Clelland wrote to the Review. “I think it’s in a fairly good location, and the amenities are certainly more robust than anywhere else I’ve lived on this campus.”
However, the lack of a stove, among other things, has become a subject of complaint among students.
“ Coming from OSCA, I am kitchen safety trained,” double- degree third-year Kali Bateman, who is applying to Woodland Hall after being unable to get into Village Housing, said. “I am food safety trained. I know how to clean and live with a restaurant-style kitchen. I do not want to share a kitchen with a bunch of people who are not as clean as I am, frankly, when it comes to kitchens.”
Other complaints from students include the lack of a common area in the apartment, the unopenable windows, the inaccessible nature of the building for those in Brown Bag Co-op, the small individual bedrooms, and the overall design of the building.
“ I’m trying not to let aesthetics rule too much of my decision making, but it’s genuinely such an ugly building,” Danielle Leydon, another College third-year who was unable to obtain Village Housing and hopes to live in the building, said. “The setup is genuinely hideous. … It feels like prison.”
However, Mark Zeno, the assistant vice president and dean of Residence Life and Auxiliary Services for the Residential Life Office, said that he has not received these complaints.
Despite this, students seem excited about the possibilities of the new dorm. More specifically, suite style living, the location of Woodland Hall, and the accessibility that comes with the new building.
“ It’s a new building at the very least: it can’t be the worst thing ever, and obviously they’re gonna take modern considerations,” said College first-year Lucy Ingram. “It’ll probably be super eco-friendly, which is something that’s nice.”
