Living in The Courts

Returning students may have noticed something different about the basketball courts by East.

Mainly, that there’s a dorm there now.

The Courts, as the temporary modular housing came to be called, was built over the summer to compensate for a housing shortage which, according to Aaron Bova, Senior Associate Director of Residential Services, was caused by a combination of a larger incoming freshman class, heightened retention rates, and the closing of a fraternity house. Even without the closing of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said Bova, Muhlenberg still would have had to move 22 women to The Courts.

After considering multiple options, including renting off-campus apartments and repurposing other vacant buildings, Muhlenberg settled on building a temporary dorm.

The Courts is a single-story temporary housing unit containing 18 double rooms, two singles, and a Resident Assistant apartment. It is currently home to 37 sophomore and junior women and their RA, with a capacity of 40 residents. It also has its own laundry, a lounge, a full kitchen, and two bathrooms, and will remain a part of campus for the next three years at least.

The only aspect of The Courts that seems to fall short is the exterior, which even Bova admits isn’t its biggest selling point.

“There’s no sense of sugarcoating the outside,” said Bova, “it in no way, shape or form can even come close to the architecture and the history of the architecture of any of the buildings on campus. That certainly was never the intention, and we weren’t going to go in a direction of trying to mask it, to even try to blend it to that.”

“We knew it wasn’t going to look like the other buildings,” said Bova, “so we felt like having a little bit of fun with it, and putting Muhlenberg on the side of it would make it look a lot nicer than what we had seen in examples from other institutions.”

Although the outside couldn’t be helped, Bova made sure during construction, that the inside of The Courts was up to standard with the rest of the dorms on campus. For example, the bedrooms in are larger than those in Martin Luther, the whole building is air-conditioned, and The Courts has the same ratio of students to laundry equipment as the rest of the dorms.

“From a bedroom comparable standpoint, I would say because they are larger and because they are air-conditioned, if you were going to compare [The Courts] up against a building like Martin Luther or Prosser, I think most students would say it’s better because it has those two things,” said Bova.

Of the students interviewed, the AC and the size of the rooms were two of the most common perks, as well as the overall newness of the building. In short, the students interviewed expressed a positive attitude toward living in The Courts.

Interestingly enough, the RA of The Courts, Breanna Booth, ’19, said most of the complaints come from outside the dorm.

“I feel like a majority of the backlash that I hear about the building comes from people who don’t even live in the building, which is absolutely hilarious,” said Booth. “You don’t have to live here, I don’t understand why you are so concerned. People who live in the building don’t voice those type of concerns.”

Of the four residents interviewed, two recommended living in The Courts in future years, and another agreed that it was a nice place to live.

“We have a lot of the amenities that living in ML or Brown...[we] wouldn’t have had,” said Booth, “AC, it’s one floor, laundry is on the same floor... the rooms are very spacious.”

Resident Brittany Shimanski, ’19, agreed.

“The biggest perk is definitely the air conditioning. The rooms are also fairly large and the entire space is quiet and relaxed,” said Shimanski. “I am extremely happy with how my living situation turned out, however I am unsure if I would want to live here again depending on my options for next year. But, I would absolutely recommend it to the next class year.”

Nadia Ureña, ’19, admits there are some drawbacks, but only minor ones.

“I’m pleasantly surprised by The Courts, but I don’t think I would want to live here next year. I would tell the other class years that it really isn’t as bad living here as it may appear to be. The building... is new and so is the furniture and everything is clean and nice so it’s much nicer than I expected,” said Ureña. “Some cons are that there’s not a lot of windows so sometimes it feels cramped, and also the walls are thin so I can hear everything from other rooms; it really has never gotten to the point of being a problem.”

Heather McKeown, ‘19, though, sees no problems with her living space.

“I would absolutely recommend living in The Courts,” said McKeown, “there are no cons that I can think of. I am very happy with my room and the entire building.”

Booth hopes the community will reach this consensus as well.

“I think that after a lot of people have seen the building,” she said, “especially after we do this open house... then that’s going to be the place where a lot of people are going to want to stay.”

The public formed mixed opinions of The Courts after a 12 July article from The Morning Call incorrectly reported that the temporary dorm would be used to “house students who were kicked out of a campus fraternity house.”

Anyone curious about The Courts is welcome to attend their open house on September from 4-6 PM or contact the Office of Residential Services, who will be happy to answer questions.

The Weekly will continue this investigation.

photo by David Budnick