Editorial : Changes in SkyHall arrangements mark step in right direction

Syracuse University will repurpose the SkyHall dorms on South Campus for the second time in two years this August.

Three years ago, SkyHalls housed only freshmen in doubles; today, SkyHalls house freshmen from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry and a group of transfer students; and next year, two of the dorms in the three-dorm complex will house transfer students, and one dorm will be converted into optional upperclassman singles.

Although next year’s arrangement remains problematic, it’s clear the university is working toward a sustainable and student-friendly solution.

Housing students new to campus in an isolated setting, more than a mile away from Main Campus, is hardly ideal. Although these transfer students share an important bond, living in dorms on South sharpens the line that already separates transfers students from those who have always been on campus.

SkyHalls polarize the first-year students’ experience — some students love it and others hate it. It takes a very self-sufficient and mature student to enjoy a first-year experience in SkyHalls, as the buses make less-than-optimal class schedules more frustrating; the available meal plan at Goldstein becomes repetitive and unhealthy with both Burger King and Sbarros; and making friends and getting involved on Main Campus becomes a more arduous task. This is not the best environment in which to place students who are brand new to SU life.

With that said, some students flourish at SkyHalls. The dorms provide a more tranquil space away from Main Campus; it’s more conducive to studying and working out as a giant study space and gym reside at the Goldstein Student Center, just a staircase away from the SkyHall complex. Ultimately, however, these students comprise a minority of those forced to live there.

But next year’s changes to SkyHall III, which will provide large, single dorm rooms with double beds, provides the best use of the SkyHalls to date. Offering students spacious rooms, the biggest beds in campus housing, easy access to a grocery store, communal kitchens and the novelty of dorm life is an intriguing and potentially successful use of this somewhat odd living space. Best of all, students living in SkyHall will finally live there by choice. If the optional SkyHall III dorm arrangement succeeds, SU should consider integrating all transfers into Main Campus housing and turning the other two SkyHall buildings into optional upperclassman singles.