By Taylor Ward

September 9, 2014

To some students, it seems that campus has a lot more residents this semester. The cafe lines are longer, Seeger Chapel is more crowded and there are several unfamiliar faces.  Many have claimed that it has become so crowded, that students who do not meet the criteria are being allowed to live off campus.

 

In actuality, these rumors are untrue. In fact, Milligan College has less students living on campus than previous years. This semester, Milligan is housing 601 students compared to the 621 students in the residence halls last year. Many dorms in Hart, Sutton, and Webb hold one student or are currently vacant.

 

Upperclassmen might be under the illusion that there are more students on campus because of the amount of freshman and transfers Milligan received this year. Seniors such as Taylor Campbell, say that the amount of new faces on campus have given the impression that there are actually more students.

 

It is true, however, that Milligan College is housing the largest freshman class in the history of the college. These many new faces could give the illusion that there are more students. However, because of the amount of graduates and transfers last year, Milligan has become a slight smaller community.

 

You may be wondering, “Then why are students being allowed to live off campus who do not meet the requirements?” Actually, they aren’t. According to Director of Residence and Housing, Kate Anderson, “ No one is ‘allowed’ to live off campus. The policies are still the same.”

 

The Milligan College Off-Campus Living Request states that students of Milligan College must reside on campus unless they meet these requirements:

• Any Student who is married.

• Any Student who is living with a member of his/her immediate family (parents, guardian, married brother or sister)

• Any student who has completed 128 semester hours or 8 semesters of full time academic work.

• Any student whose total load for a given semester is less than 9 hours.

• Any student who is a military veteran of more than (1) year.

• Any student who will be 23 years or older before the fall semester

 

So students, do not worry. The cafe line has always been that long, Seeger Chapel’s crowd will slowly deteriorate, and those unfamiliar faces are just nervous freshmen. Also, do not allow yourselves to believe everything you hear. Kate Anderson claims to have not made any unfair exceptions for anyone to live off campus that is not supposed to.