So…Thomas Hall. Where to even begin?
The Maroon last mentioned Thomas Hall, if memory serves, in an article called “The Thomas Promise,” where it was revealed that the building would be turned into a welcome center for new students.
At the time, this idea was viable. Technically, Loyola should still look into acquiring a welcome center to help with the directing and registration of prospective students. A year after the “Thomas Promise” was published, however, there are more pressing issues at hand.
Most current residents will remember how the huge influx of freshmen for this academic year caused there to be a housing crisis of sorts, forcing many students to live in Cabra Hall on Broadway Campus.
The double-occupancy measure that Loyola took to accommodate all of its students caused Cabra Hall to become cramped and uncomfortable, making the act of living in the Broadway dormitories seem almost like a punishment for going to an increasingly popular college.
Thomas Hall, however, holds the answer to the overcrowding problem here at Loyola. Instead of transforming the building into a welcome center with hopes of bringing in more students, Thomas Hall should be used for what it was used for last — as a dormitory building.
For decades the building was used as the Jesuit residence, then as a temporary dorm, but the money that is being used to create a welcome center could easily be used to bring the building up to par with the other dormitories.
While it is true that all of the rooms are single-occupancy, Loyola officials could simply charge a little more for the single rooms, as is standard procedure.
Rather than focusing on placing a welcome mat out to bring in more students, Loyola should be concentrating on providing the current yearly number of students with suitable, reasonably comfortable lodging that does not have the potential to hinder education in any way.
Do not misunderstand me: I want Loyola to flourish and grow, but the university must be able to keep up with the numbers and manage the housing problem in any way possible. The first step in this process is to designate Thomas Hall as a dormitory as soon as possible.
Besides, any prospectve student would love nothing more than to see a beautiful, spacious dorm as soon as they walk onto campus.
If this does not occur then Loyola, like any other business that cannot meet consumer demand, will be severely limiting its accessibility and dependability on the college market.
Chad Carlile can be reached at
