After the last final exam of Spring Term, most Carleton students leave campus for the summer, not to return until late Aug. or Sept. Some work jobs or internships in different places across the world, others travel and many simply go home to rest. But there is a significant population of students who stay on campus for extended periods of time over the summer. Students may remain on campus to work, participating in research programs, local Northfield-based internships or helping teach the Summer Liberal Arts Institute (SLAI). But for others, staying on campus over the summer is their only option, as there are economic or safety barriers to returning home, particularly the increasingly hostile legislation against international students. As a result, the number of students needing to stay on campus was higher this past summer than in previous summers.
So what did the college do with all of their summer residents? Students had to apply for summer housing in Spring Term, and applications were accepted or rejected in late May. Admissions Fellows, SLAI employees and Reunion workers were eligible for free housing, as well as international students from countries on a State Department travel advisory list. All other summer residents had to pay for their housing on a weekly basis at a subsidized rate. Nearly all residents who stayed for the entirety of the summer were housed in Myers Hall, many with random roommates.
Due to the large number of students living on campus over the summer, Myers was relatively full, especially in the first half of the summer. All three residential floors of the dorm were utilized, and each floor was equipped with communal bathrooms and a kitchen/lounge with one stove, one refrigerator and one microwave. Each room also contained one microfridge/freezer unit and a microwave.
Summer temperatures in Minnesota were slightly above average, with an overall average temperature in July being 83 degrees Fahrenheit, accompanied by several days with high temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, according to data from the University of Minnesota. Reunion weekend in June also saw a heat wave, with high temperatures in the mid-90s and lows only dipping slightly below 80 degrees at night. Myers Hall is equipped with air conditioning in hallways and on the first, non-residential floor, but there is no air conditioning in residential rooms. As a result, Residential Life opened the Weitz Center and Anderson Hall overnight for students to have reprieve from the heat.
“The lack of air conditioning made dorm conditions stifling, and it prevented me from getting adequate sleep,” said Penelope Steffen ’27, who lived in Myers and did research over the summer. “Overall, I found myself visiting my friends who lived in off campus housing with AC for a break from the heat, but that is not a privilege many people have, and I didn’t want to burden my friends.”
Though the Language and Dining Center (LDC) was open on a reduced schedule for parts of the summer, students needed to grocery shop and cook most of their food on their own. Students could purchase block meal plans, but financial aid for these plans was not regularly available. Myers kitchens were open 24 hours per day, and the Multicultural Center and Dacie Moses House were also open at different times during the week for students to cook. However, since students were discouraged from storing food long-term in the latter two kitchens, a temporary kitchen space was opened on the first floor of Myers Hall complete with two stoves, refrigerators and microwaves. Pots, pans and other cooking utensils were available as “cooking kits” on all floors of Myers as a part of a CSA-funded resolution to increase food accessibility.
“The cooking situation definitely improved from previous years,” said Steffen. “Specifically the cooking kits were helpful. I also think the extra kitchen on the first floor helped reduce congestion in the kitchens, but it didn’t open until later in the summer right before I left campus. My biggest issue was the lack of fridge and freezer space. Cooking for one person is difficult, and it would have been much better if I could meal prep and freeze portions of food.”
Overall, summer housing was required to meet the needs of more students in response to current legislation and did so with mixed reactions. Students wondered about alternative options for future summer housing, as more townhouse-style homes are built and Musser Hall underwent a renovation over the summer.
“It seems many of the dorm buildings are vacant [during the summer] and I know that the new housing at Lilac Hill sat vacant,” Steffen said. “If we were housed in these townhouse style homes, we would be able to live more comfortably and build a better community than just being cramped in Myers.”
The Office of Residential Life has yet to comment.
