If you’ve got an eye on a single room for next year’s housing process, then you’re in luck. Kenyon is making a host of changes to its housing offerings, increasing the number of available singles across the board, turning triples into doubles and halving the occupancy of all Morgan Apartments (Milks) and many New Apartments (New Apts). Overall, Kenyon’s modifications will create 89 new singles in apartment housing.

At the weekly Student Council meeting on Sunday, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life (ResLife) Leah Reuber gave an overview of the changes, which she said have been in the works for at least three years. The modifications will go into effect for next year’s housing selection process. According to Reuber, Kenyon’s total bed capacity will drop from 2,056 to 1,903 for the next school year, a 153-bed decrease.

Reuber cited three main factors for the changes: lower student enrollment, an increased number of accommodation requests and the desire to improve student quality of living. Lower enrollment allows ResLife to be more flexible by turning all triples into doubles (with few exceptions) and some doubles into singles.

In the Milks, all doubles will be converted to singles, making each one a three-person apartment. All New Apt doubles will also be converted to singles, marking a 36-bed decrease in their overall capacity. After the change, most New Apts will hold a maximum of four people, with some only holding two students. It will be the first time Kenyon has had two-person apartments. The elimination of triples will impact the North Campus Apartments (NCAs), turning 25 triples into doubles across 13 separate units. 

For the Milks and the NCAs, overall capacity is returning to previous levels. According to Dean of Students Brian Janssen, Milk doubles and NCA triples were instituted in the fall of 2021 due to larger student populations

Students interviewed, some of whom were learning of the alterations for the first time, had mixed reactions. “It changes what people want a lot more. I think the housing will definitely get more competitive,” Luke Savage ’28, who lives in the Milks with his baseball teammates, said. “I think living with three people has a very different vibe,” his housemate Thomas Pollard ’28 said. “I think part of the reason I enjoy living here with five guys is because I can always come into the living room and hang out with my friends.” 

Fellow housemate Mikey Levy ’28 agreed with Pollard. “It definitely makes it a lot less desirable for friend groups of like five to six, like we have. So I think that’s pretty disappointing and definitely makes me want to live less in the Milks again next year,” he said.

Residence halls will also see modifications. Fourteen Hanna Hall triples will be converted into doubles, while 10 Caples Hall doubles will be converted to singles. In special circumstances, triples, such as in Archon division housing, will have the option to stay as a triple. Gund Residence Hall, which currently has no single-occupancy rooms, will have 10 doubles switched to singles, as will McBride Residence Hall, although Reuber noted that the specific breakdown between first-year dorms is still tentative. “We may switch between Mather [Residence Hall] and McBride, or divide it up between Mather and McBride,” Reuber said. “That’s where there’s still flexibility in that conversation.”

According to Reuber, data collection from previous housing cycles highlighted issues with the Milks and New Apts in particular. In last year’s apartment and suite housing process (ASH), not all of the Milks or New Apts were fully claimed — five New Apts remained completely untouched after the ASH and general housing processes. “That’s a huge indicator that there is some conflict between the desirability of living in an apartment and not wanting to be in a specific type of apartment,” Reuber said. She cited the student-to-bathroom ratio for the Milks, as well as the small quarters of the New Apts, as undesirable factors mentioned by many students. “[The change] alleviates some of the stress that we see on those apartments,” Reuber said, referring to the New Apts in particular during her address to Student Council. “We know what the common perception is of those spaces.”

Nina Nicoletti ’28 lives in a Milk with five of her friends. “It just feels wrong to me,” she said, referencing the changes. “I’ve had no problem with six people living in this house, in fact, I‘ve really enjoyed it.” With the flexibility that Reuber described, Nicoletti believes that different living combinations could be a possibility. “Maybe they could do something where you can have three to six people in [a unit], but in general, I feel like six people has been very comfortable.”

An increase in total accommodation requests also factored into the decision-making process. “We’re seeing needs for single rooms, needs for air conditioning, and where can we add more of those spaces to campus across the board to make sure that all students have an increased choice of where they are placed and where they’re going to live,” Reuber said. 

With an increased need and desire for singles, altering these underutilized apartments seemed natural. Referring to the Milks as an example, Reuber said: “There was a lot of difficulty in the past two years, as we were doing pre-placements with the Morgans, where they did meet certain accommodation needs, but people [were] really disappointed with that assignment or were not able to fill those apartments.” Reuber hopes that ResLife changes will make apartments like the Milks more desirable, not only for accommodations but also for specialty housing and the general student body.

Student feedback on the modifications will be collected in an ongoing process, although there was no direct student input in the original decisions. “This is sort of the initial input,” Reuber told Student Council. “[This] conversation has to start somewhere.”

Reuber emphasized that she believes the changes will ultimately improve the student experience. “We have spent years collecting data and looking at what is the raw data,” she concluded. “We’re in a place where we have the latitude to make some of these adjustments happen, so let’s try them out. … If something doesn’t work, we can change it.”

News Assistant Anna Sugg ’28 contributed to reporting.