The beginning of the spring semester has brought changes for all students on campus, and none are more aware of this than the former residents of Mark Twain Residence Hall. Beginning this semester, the building will be undergoing renovations, which forced approximately 395 students to relocate.
Residential Life Director Frankie Minor said the plans were initially scheduled to take place two years ago and were deferred due to a record-setting amount of students enrolled as freshmen. By working in the spring rather than in the fall, renovations can be completed in three semesters rather than four, making the residence hall available to students for an additional semester.
The renovation of Mark Twain is the fourth phase in the Residential Life Master Plan developed by the UM System Board of Curators in 2001. The cumulative plan involves providing major attention to revitalizing living spaces across campus and is scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2018.
“Students who lived there could begin moving as soon as we allowed room changes in early September,” Minor said.
Moving students so early in the year was a challenge, as MU is currently facing some of its largest enrollment numbers to date, according to a previous Maneater article.
“There were more options for them at the end of the semester,” Minor said. “Plus, we moved their stuff for them.”
Minor said roughly 8 to 10 percent of students move out of residence halls at the end of each semester, relocating to Greek Life or off-campus housing, dropping out or transferring.
Students were given a preference sheet and allowed to indicate their choices in regard to which residence hall to move to, whether to keep the same roommate and what style of living they desire.
“It was sort of like going to Which Wich and marking down the different things that you want on your sandwich,” freshman Jessie Greer said in an email.
Greer said she was satisfied with the way the move was handled.
“As for being split up from people I knew, yeah, it was kind of sucky, but almost everyone has a phone or Facebook, so really all you have to do is shoot them a text or message saying you want to hang out,” Greer said. “I also look at it as a way to make even more friends, which is always a good thing.”
Freshman Allyssa Bunner said she was content with where Residential Life placed her on campus after the move from Mark Twain. Bunner said she did face problems with a broken moving box and a parking ticket, which stemmed from getting a new parking spot closer to her new dorm, but she was content with the outcome.
“I thought, for the most part, everything went really smooth and easy on us,” Bunner said. “Everything was sort of done for us.”
