On Friday, the New Apartments (New Apts) received new living room furniture from the Office of Residential Life, replacing existing furniture that had been at the New Apts for as long as 15 years. 

ResLife placed their order in the spring once funding was approved for the new items. After some initial delays with fabric companies, the maintenance team was able to move the old furniture out on Sept. 15 and install the new pieces the following day. 

     Historically, the New Apts have been home to a mishmash of furniture that has accumulated over the years. In the past, ResLife would upgrade the worst of the furniture with existing pieces they had on hand. Associate Director of Housing and Operations Josh Kusch worked to secure these new furniture sets so all of the New Apartments will have brand new, durable items. “We replaced the very old furniture as well as the items that were added just a few years ago,” he said. “In this process, we were able to standardize what furniture was offered in each of the different layouts of the New Apartments.” 

     The residents of the New Apts received an email from Kusch notifying them of the dates on which maintenance would remove the old furniture and place the new ones. Residents were told to label any personal items so as to not confuse property of the College with other items. The oldest and more unusable pieces of furniture were thrown away. Kusch said the items that were put in more recently will remain in ResLife’s possession and be used elsewhere as needed.

     Included in the new living room furniture is a host of soft seating, such as couches and chairs, as well as dining tables and chairs for the larger apartments. New Apts resident Matthew LesStrang ’23 and his roommates received a new couch and some chairs, which were a welcome change from the old and flaky seats that were replaced. LesStrang is pleased with their new additions, but he sees the gesture as only a fraction of the renovations that need to be done to their housing. The New Apts have had consistent sanitary issues, such as mold. “The New Apartments as a whole need a lot of work, but I’m glad the College is making an effort to improve things,” he said. “Maybe they’ll tackle the mold next.” 

   Not everyone is satisfied with their furniture upgrades, though. Shea Humphries ’23 is one of the lucky few New Apts residents whose initial furnishings were in good condition. After being told that they could not keep their existing furniture, Humphries and her roommates are displeased with their new setup. “Now we have way less furniture, it’s purple, and it smells a little weird,” she wrote in an email to the Collegian. “It ruined our feng shui.”