UC Dorms: The newest, the nastiest, and the hottest

            Traditionally, students choose to live on campus when they go to college. It is the ideal thing to do since taking this step in their lives ultimately means leaving home for the first time. However, colleges tend to over-charge students for poor quality housing. Not only is the University of the Cumberlands guilty of expensive room and board fees, they also charge the same amount for the newest dorms as they do the oldest residence halls.

Every year students attending UC pay a substantial amount of money to live in the dorms. The price of dorm living at the university is $6,826.00. That amount is shocking considering the condition that some of the dormitories are in. Not only will you share a compact space with another individual, you will also be paying an unnecessary amount of money for a room you probably won’t be satisfied with. In fact, dorm life in general is a colossal disappointment.

Although that seems to be a large sum of money, it would be acceptable to pay that amount if the residence halls were equally renovated. However, the university has failed to do so.

As a freshman, Gillespie Hall is where the average female will stay. This dorm has rooms that hold three to four women with minimum living space. The girls share the bathroom with their floor, and the amount of toilets and showers are limited. In comparison to Gillespie, there is Harth Hall which is the newest built female dorm recommended for upper-classmen. Harth is newly renovated with exceptional features such as an elevator, a computer lab with six desktop computers and a printer, along with each suite having a lobby and personal bathrooms. Although both dorms are vastly different, students are still paying the same amount to live in both. It is a bit ridiculous but it gets worse.

Along with Hutton Hall, and Asher Hall there is Archer Hall. Archer holds 30% of freshmen students according to the UC website. Not only is the building old and not up to par with the other dorms, it doesn’t have air conditioning. How is it fair to pay the same amount of living expenses to live in Harth as it is to live in Archer?

The average student coming to the University of the Cumberlands is a college-athlete. Although this doesn’t make them superior to other students, athletes along with asthmatic and allergy prone individuals need to have a cool place to go when the hot temperatures arrive. It is a shame that students cannot rest peacefully in their rooms because they lack a luxury that they are ultimately paying for.

Rob-Cook Hall, Mahan Hall and Siler Hall are the dorms in which hold the vast majority of the males at the university. Although the campus provides housekeeping, it is merely impossible to keep all residence halls clean if they are not internally sanitary. Along with the issues that have arrived in the previous dorms, there have also been many cases of MERSA and staph caused by the weight room that connects Robinson and Cook halls. This isn’t an issue of lacking a luxury such as air conditioning, it’s unsanitary. Although hygiene is not my topic, it plays a huge role in why it is unacceptable for residents to pay the same amount to live in a rodent infested dorm such as Mahan, as it is to live in the upper-classmen dorm Kleist Hall.

Kleist Hall is the newest male dorm on campus which holds 96 male students. This is an upperclassmen dorm with the same luxeries as the female dorm Harth Hall.

The living expenses at the University of the Cumberlands would be tolerable if the dorms were equally livable. It should not be the same amount to live in a dorm without air conditioning as it is to live in a dorm with an elevator. Housing prices should be renovated along with the majority of the residence halls on campus. What student or parent would agree with these living conditions prior to move in day? Why are ambassadors deceiving students by taking them to the nicest dorms that they won’t end up in? Something on campus needs to change rapidly.