On Thursday, September 25th, Director of Residence Life, Andrew Johnson, sent a campus-wide email confirming Sunday, September 28th as the initial move-in date for Harvey Hall. Following a series of delays to all three residential halls in August, Harvey Hall was the last to announce move-in delays from its original opening date of August 29th and the first to open for student residence. Students moved into Harvey Hall on September 28th, October 4th and October 5th. 

Stegner and Robart Halls are still under construction and students moving into these halls will continue to receive updates from Residence Life about their move-in dates. Vice President for Communications, Gina Zandy Ohnstad, confirmed in a statement to The Wire that student presence in Harvey Hall will not stall construction of Stegner and Robart Hall. 

“Crews are still working extremely hard to get the residents of Stegner Hall and Robart Hall into their buildings as soon as possible as well as to complete landscaping for the village,” Ohnstad said.

President Bolton also expressed regret over the delays students endured and emphasized the college’s efforts to provide safe housing amidst ongoing construction. 

“While we hoped to open a bit earlier and deeply regret the burden the delay and extra move has placed on students, our focus is always to make sure the building is safe and that the living experience was excellent for students,” Bolton said.  

As Stegner and Robart Halls are not yet open to students, the college will continue providing residents with compensation for the cost of rent that they would be paying for as residents in the new buildings. 

“Students in Stegner and Robart will continue to receive flex dollars weekly as well as refunds for their housing costs until their buildings are ready for move-in. Now that Harvey students are moving in, they will no longer receive those,” Ohnstad said. 

Final touches to Harvey Hall are still underway and students living there will not have access to portions of the building as construction crews complete remaining additions, such as installing laundry machines. Fourth year student Yael Hensen Anaya, who has been temporarily housed in a college-owned house that is normally reserved for faculty and staff, is hesitant to move into an unfinished building. 

“We decided to go and see the building and see how it looked. When we first saw the building, most of the doors had no glass on them, so it was just a frame of the door — they were not finished,” Hensen Anaya said. “The elevator wasn’t working, the AC wasn’t working and there’s no laundry room so we have to go to College House to do our laundry.”

After exploring Harvey Hall when it first opened last weekend, Hensen Anaya and her roommate felt more comfortable living in their temporary housing and are currently trying to extend their stay rather than pay for rent in a construction zone.  

“We are paying for a list of amenities that were advertised that are currently not available because none of the common rooms are furnished, we don’t have a laundry room, we don’t have an elevator and we don’t have AC — we don’t have all those things that were advertised that we could have,” Hensen Anaya said. “So we were also not comfortable about the idea of paying full price for something where we’re not getting a full list of services.” 

Hensen Anaya and her roommate are currently trying to extend their stay in the temporary housing they were offered at the start of the semester, and hope to move into Harvey Hall when the elevator and air conditioning are available for student use. 

Third year student Ellie St. Pierre, who moved into Harvey Hall on the 28th, confirmed that the lobby and basement are currently closed to students. Although Harvey Hall remains unfinished, St. Pierre sees the September move-in date as a trade off from the temporary housing she was assigned in a first-year residence hall.  

“I would rather move in sooner rather than later, so even though the laundry and stuff isn’t working, I am glad that I could move in now,” St. Pierre said. 

Despite St. Pierre’s silver linings, the back and forth delays and rush to move students into the village has left many feeling uneasy. 

“The lack of transparency was frustrating” St. Pierre said.

Hensen Anaya agreed and recognized that delays to the construction and move-in process has been difficult for everyone with plans for the Junior Senior Housing Village.

“It’s a frustrating situation for everyone. We just all wish that it had been ready on time, and none of this would have happened,” Hensen Anaya said. 

As Harvey Hall’s apartments are slowly turned into homes for students, Bolton hopes the newfound community will bring older students the balance they seek. 

“Harvey Hall was designed to create a unique balance between the independence that our juniors and seniors are looking for in their residence experience, with the connection and community students feel in their first few years at Whitman.” Bolton said.

Harvey Hall’s second and third move-in dates continued on Wednesday and Saturday, reaching its official expected occupancy. As of now, there have been no new updates concerning progress on Robart and Stegner Hall.