The administration has no plan to add more permanent housing, but they see a future without Glenview dorms at Hamilton.
Tucked in the very upper corner of the Hill, and sandwiched between the Glen and parking lot, lies Glenview. Glenview has truly made a name for itself on campus, renowned for its less-than-ideal size and lack of aesthetic appeal. However, it is praised for its access to free laundry and highly functional air conditioning. Glenview was built during the pandemic to permit more students to safely social distance while following state protocol, however, it has remained functional as a freshman dorm in the three years since.
After over-enrollment with the Class of 2025, leading to an increase in “forced doubles,” many students are wondering whether or not there is a plan for a more permanent housing solution. The current answer is no; the administration is not planning to add another dorm. “The Class of 2025 outpaced our predicted enrollment numbers, which shows Hamilton is a great place to be. While this caused shortages in our housing that required keeping Glenview longer than initially planned, it is not the goal to maintain these levels of enrollment in the long term,” said Tanith Sherman, Assistant Dean of Students for Community Living.
Sherman has played a large role in organizing housing at Hamilton. She has a wide range of responsibilities, including putting first-year students into housing, housing selection more generally, housing during breaks, the opening and closing of residence halls and dealing with damage in buildings. With the help of Travis Hill, Associate Dean of Students for Student Engagement, Sherman provided a thorough description of the timeline between Glenview’s construction and plans for the future.
Sherman explained that Glenview was built to accommodate students during COVID. “For the 2020–2021 academic year, we were unable to use any of our triple rooms as triples, or any of our quads without private bathrooms as quads. We were only permitted to put two students in each of those spaces,” said Sherman. She went on to speak about the influx of students, “In addition, students were not going abroad as they normally would, resulting in more students on campus. To be sure we had enough beds for all of our students we made many changes in our housing, including adding the Glenview buildings.”
As the Hamilton community’s growth has been reflected in its increasing enrollment numbers, this has created a need for more housing. “Our initial permit to build them was for three years. We anticipate that we are going to use them through the 24–25 academic year. We have extended the timeline due to increased enrollment when the Class of 2025 was even more excited to join Hamilton than we predicted,” Sherman explained. This surge in admissions can partially be attributed to an increasingly competitive pool of applicants but also a product of students being able to attend school regularly, post-COVID.
Students on the Hill eagerly await housing selection, hoping for a “darkside” suite or “Sken” single. But despite its controversial reputation, Glenview has been essential in accommodating Hamilton students through unprecedented times.
