Freshman feelings range about housing placement

Syracuse University first-year students displayed mixed emotions as they moved into their residence halls on Wednesday and Thursday.

An unexpectedly large incoming class this year forced SU to make adjustments to its residential facilities and to acquire new facilities over the summer to accommodate all the new students.

As a result, many students are living in rooms or residence halls they had not expected to live in, such as the Sheraton Syracuse University Hotel and Conference Center, the terrace level of Brockway Hall and double rooms converted into triples.

Students living in the Sheraton appeared excited and enthusiastic as they checked in on Thursday. The hotel houses the Quiet Lifestyle Learning Community, with 30 students and two resident advisers living on one wing on the fourth floor of the hotel.

"It's surpassed my expectations," said freshman political science major George Kilzi.

Kilzi had not seen any of the rooms in other residence halls, but his room far exceeded those he saw when he visited other universities such as the University of Notre Dame, the Catholic University of America and the University of Scranton.

"Obviously it surpasses them by a couple of yards at least," Kilzi said. "You can't compare them. This is so much better."

Danica Bryant, an RA in the Sheraton, also expressed her excitement at living in the hotel.

"I was in shock," Bryant said, describing her reaction when she first saw her room. "I realized that I probably had the opportunity of a lifetime to live in a hotel and go to school. ... I feel very privileged."

Brockway Hall also received favorable reviews from its residents and their parents. The facility houses the Honors Learning Community, with 26 students and one RA, on the terrace level below Brockway Dining Hall.

Greg Banecker, a freshman television, radio and film and business dual major, professed his enthusiasm at the fact that the floor was newly renovated. Banecker noted workers were still performing construction work on the floor lounge as his family walked into the building.

"There are wood chips on the floor so you know it's brand new," said his mother, Linda Banecker, laughing.

Across the campus at Marion Hall, however, students living in open triple rooms did not display the same delight at seeing their rooms as their counterparts at the Sheraton Hotel and at Brockway Hall.

Rebecca Lyons, a freshman bioengineering major, complained her room was too cramped for three residents. Lyons said she was disappointed because she was shown a split double at Shaw Hall when she visited SU in April, and her room was a lot smaller than that one.

However, Lyons and her family said they do not believe the size of her room poses too much of a problem.

"She'll survive," said her mother, Brenda Lyons, chuckling. "I don't think she'll drop out of college because the room is small."