The good news is Loyola is seeing its largest freshmen class since Hurricane Katrina. The bad news is on-campus housing is starting to feel the pinch.
 The influx of incoming freshmen paired with the new rule requiring sophomores to stay on campus has created an increased demand for on-campus housing.
“We’re at 95 percent capacity whereas a year ago we were at 78 percent,” said Craig Beebe, interim director for Residential Life.
 As a result, Residential Life has had to move students to new rooms. Beebe said this decision affected 120 students.
Officials sent these students a letter at the beginning of July stating the residents on the second and third floors of Buddig Hall will be reassigned to Cabra Hall to make room for more first-year residents on Loyola’s main campus.
Many students originally assigned a single room in Cabra, must have a roommate. Some students are unhappy because of the smaller sleeping quarters in the suites.
“I went to check the Cabra rooms, and I noticed that there is not enough room for two people in a room,” said Maria Villacreces, music industry studies senior. “Obviously it was designed for two, but it really isn’t.”
Villacreces is one of the 120 residents affected. She said she originally requested Cabra Hall because she wanted a single room and was told that there was a good chance that the rooms will not be doubled up.
Others, like Shawn Sedlak, general studies sophomore, are upset about being moved away from the main campus.
“I am very annoyed that I am now off campus, since all my classes are on the main campus, and will need to bike, or shuttle, or walk to all my classes, rather than what I expected ¬ which was a two-minute walk,” Sedlak said.
 After learning of the room consolidation Villacreces started taking action by writing letters of her disapproval to officials and starting a Facebook group.
”I decided to make the Facebook group so Res Life could see how many people are not okay with the decision taken,” Villacreces said. “Also it was a way to come up with solutions — like taking away the sophomores have to live on campus rule.”
Marcia “Cissy” Petty, vice president and associate provost said the new rule requiring sophomores to stay on campus is part of “Loyola 2012,” a strategic plan to raise retention rates.       
“It is recognized that students living on campus actually engage more fully with the institution both academically and co-curricularly when living on campus versus commuting,” Petty said.
Beebe said sophomores from the New Orleans area were allowed to live off campus as well as other sophomores that were granted an appeal on a case-by-case basis.
Villacrees said Robert Reed, assistant vice president of student affairs  was allowing sophomores unhappy with the consolidation to move off campus if they wanted but he did not publicize this. Reed declined to comment.
But not everyone is unhappy with Residential Life’s decision, such as music education sophomore and Residential Life staff member Micael Morin.
“Res Life made the wisest choice possible with the resources they had,” Morin said.   
Even if the size of freshmen classes continues to grow, Beebe said he isn’t worried about finding housing for years to come.
 “It will be harder to accommodate single rooms, but most universities function this way,” Beebe said.
To better prepare themselves, Beebe said Residential Life created a committee to make room draw selection easier and plans on getting earlier projections from the Office of Admissions.   
As of right now Beebe said there are no specifics on a new residence hall being built but that it is an important topic. 
”We want to continue improving residence housing,” Beebe said.

John Adams can be reached at [email protected].