This year, resident assistants in traditional style dorms — Tutwiler, Paty, Parham, Burke and Harris — can expect freshman roommates. In any other year, RAs get a double occupancy room to themselves as a perk of the job, but this year presents a change.

Housing and Residential Communities surpassed its capacity of about 8,500 beds on campus. HRC leased additional beds from two off-campus apartment complexes, The Lofts at City Center and East Edge, to accommodate the surplus of students. 

The housing shortage was a shock. Last fall, HRC had enough space to relocate Burke West residents to another residence hall to create a COVID-19 isolation facility. This year’s number of incoming students left HRC with no choice but to assign incoming freshmen to available RA rooms.

“The demand for campus housing is particularly strong this year, and we have determined that we must utilize some temporary overflow spaces in order to assign all incoming freshmen to housing,” the HRC email sent to RAs said. “As a result, you will have a roommate assigned to your room … This student will be relocated to a permanent assignment as soon as possible after the beginning of the fall semester.”

This isn’t fair. At least, that’s what many RAs are thinking right now. With less than a week’s notice, some RAs had to adjust their plans. Instead of using their space for extra storage or hosting friends, they’ll have to accommodate their new freshman roommates.

As an RA, I’ve found that a majority of my colleagues oppose the decision. They wanted a space for themselves, and they don’t want to face potential roommate conflicts since they already catch flak for enforcing community living standards.

It doesn’t help that most residents avoid interactions with RAs, whose unpopularity is cemented among freshmen. By avoiding their RAs, residents trap themselves in the false belief that their RAs are authority figures rather than students who can support them.

While the housing solution may not be ideal for RAs or incoming freshmen, I believe the situation is an opportunity for RAs to dispel the negative stereotypes about their position and to better help incoming freshmen with their transitions to student life. 

And we’re in luck, upperclassmen. Last year, student football tickets were hard to come by, stadium capacity was limited to 20%, classes went online and study-abroad experiences were canceled. Many organizations couldn’t meet in person and masks were mandatory. 

Bryant-Denny is back to full capacity this year, classes will be held in person without restrictions, masks are no longer mandatory for vaccinated students and restrictions on student life are easing up. 

The ball is already rolling; let’s keep it up. Once our roommates are on campus, let’s build those connections. 

RAs should remind their residents that they have a vested interest in their well-being as they adjust to student life on campus. By having a roommate, RAs increase their relatability to freshmen and seem more like regular students (which they are) rather than unapproachable authority figures. 

Luckily, for RAs and incoming freshmen alike, traditional-style dorms foster close interactions. The smaller rooms lead to more personable interactions between roommates, and these students build community by talking in the hallway and joining each other in common areas. 

This gives RAs the perfect segue to join the action and connect with the students on their floor. By spending time with their roommates, RAs can meet other students in a casual setting, just like any other student. Through this setup, RAs become mentors, friends, resources and confidants, and students will reap the benefits. 

This housing solution was unexpected, but after a year of resiliency, we owe it to ourselves to embrace this opportunity and develop real connections with those around us.