The new Junior-Senior housing village, which includes Harvey, Stegner and Robart Halls, was originally planned to open for residents in August of this year. However, two delays to the construction process resulted in a change in schedule, both for the buildings’ official opening and student housing options for the sophomores, juniors and seniors who were planning to live in the village. 

Students expecting to live in the village are temporarily housed in College House, North Hall, college-owned rentals and some first-year residence halls. Whitman’s Residence Life Office also wrote in a campus-wide email that the college will “provide impacted students with relocation support” when the village is complete and a $1200 credit applied to their student account for the first 30 days living elsewhere, along with $600 in flex. If move-in starts before the 30 days are over, students are still able to keep the credit. 

According to Ivonne Huang, a student who attended the Junior-Senior village Q&A, residents were given anticipated move-in dates of mid-September for Harvey Hall, late September for Stegner, and October for Robart Hall. Some students are still wary of these move-in dates, though, and want to prepare for potential changes to their move-in schedule. Devon Meeker, a student planning to live in Stegner Hall, anticipates further delays.

“I probably expect early to mid-October. I don’t want to have too high of hopes for it,” Meeker said.  

Meeker and their roommate, Ivonne Huang, are staying in College House and plan to live in Stegner Hall. 

“[The delays] made it a bit more chaotic, especially since we were due to be in a three-person room with one of our friends, and she now has to live in North Hall,” Meeker said.

On Sept. 2, construction halted for one day after construction workers struck a gas line. As a result, several buildings near the village, including Reid Campus Center and the temporary housing at College House, were evacuated while Pacific Power instituted a campus-wide power outage. 

“It was very ambitious in the first place to think that Junior-Senior housing could be available by the start of school. I don’t blame the contractors for not having it done on time, ” Meeker said.

Jackson Schroeder, one of two Community Assistants for Stegner Hall and temporary Resident Assistant for College House, shared a similar hesitation for the new move-in dates when he first found out he would temporarily live in College House.  

“I was considering just unpacking my bedsheets, and [thinking] it will be like a week,” Schroeder said, “[But] my dad is an architect and he and I walked around the construction site a couple weeks ago, and he was like ‘you’re looking at 60 days at least.’ And I was like, okay, I should probably put my string lights up in College House.” 

Although Schroeder says he is disappointed by the delays, he is making the best of it. Even as a Resident Assistant in a temporary space, Schroeder is committed to learning everyone’s names and planning events.

“I’m happy to still have residents and create temporary community,” Schroeder said. 

As for compensation, Schroeder said he received $600 in flex, and his housing was already covered through his work as a Community Assistant. 

“Res[idence] life [has] done a really good job managing the unfortunate delay,” Schroeder said. 

According to Meeker and Huang, the college has maintained communication to students affected by the delays through emails, Zoom calls and an in-person information session. 

“Given the circumstances, I’d say they’ve done pretty close to as well as they could,” Meeker said. “I did really appreciate the in-person info session.” 

“It would be nice if they had specific notes and more details about stuff. Considering everything, it’s been alright, I guess,” Huang said.  

Huang and Meeker are especially looking forward to having a dishwasher. 

“[That’s the] highlight of the month,” Huang said. 

When completed and open to students, the fully finished halls will have dishwashers, an elevator and air conditioning. With many amenities to look forward to, students staying in temporary housing are excited to move into the brand new buildings.

“[I’m] excited to move into a shiny new building and help define the culture of a new generation of residents in Stegner,” Schroeder said.

While construction may have delayed students’ move-in, the excitement to experience the brand new dorms still holds true.