For the next two academic years, the students of Targhee Residence Hall will be relocated to the Stevenson Wing of the Wallace Complex to create temporary office space for employees in the soon-to-be remodeled College of Education building.
The renovation of the College of Education is long overdue and highly necessary. It is understandable that finding a place to house all of the staff and faculty in the college is a difficult task that requires sacrifices on the part of different members of our campus.
But the chosen solution — moving an entire residence hall out of their current living quarters — was vastly mishandled by campus leadership. According to the hall president Jonathan Madrid, residents and hall leadership weren’t consulted about the move, or even informed of the change until the evening before the formal press release was sent out.
The decision was made after some students had already signed up to live in Targhee for another year. Those students are now forced to relocate to Wallace or consider alternative housing options. While these students do have the option to cancel their housing contract with no financial penalty, they have missed months of potential off-campus apartment opportunities given that people often sign leases for the next school year before spring break even rolls around.
The culture in Targhee is unique from other residence halls on campus. The small, themed community is made of fine arts majors who have chosen to live together based on common interests. It is sad that the opportunity for students to bond over those interests will be lost, as students are forced to move off campus or to non-specialized communities.
For the university to uproot an entire hall after contracts have been signed and decisions made is an egregious breach of trust.
Certainly this is an unwanted transition for everybody, but steps could have been taken to involve those students affected. The university could have been in discussions with Targhee residents from the beginning of this decision-making process and making them a part of the process instead of victims of it. Next time around, UI needs to do better.
–KM