Class of 2016 required to stay 2 years

By Lauren DiTullio, News Staff

A decision to make Northeastern’s sophomore students live on campus, discussed for years by university officials, has been put into effect starting with the class of 2016.

Housing officials are touting this move as a encouraging step as Northeastern tries to improve relations with surrounding communities.

Northeastern’s website lists on-campus room and board fee as $12,310 a year.

“The first thing I want to clarify is that current students are not affected by this change,” said Ed Klotzbier, vice president and dean for student affairs. “This year’s freshmen will not be required to stay on campus next year as sophomores.”

Klotzbier said certain exceptions will apply. Students who are going on co-op during their sophomore year will not be required to choose a co-op in Boston, and students who wish to live from home and commute will have the option to do so.

“When students live together, especially younger students, they get more engaged; they get acclimated to the university community more quickly than others,” Klotzbier said. “We want to make this the standard.”

Senior Vice President for External Affairs Michael Armini said the change would be “extremely positive.”

“We’ve seen in other universities that do this that it builds a tremendous sense of community and school spirit,” Armini said.

He also said requiring first- and second-year students to live on campus has been a subject of discussion among university officials for many years. It will be implemented next year, he said, because the addition of International Village and other leased apartment buildings will provide the space.

Additionally, more Leaving Learning Communities (LLCs) will be added to encourage community amongst freshmen. LLCs have been an option for students for several years, and are defined by Northeastern University Housing and Residential Life as “a portion of a residence hall where students share a common theme or academic interest.”

There are 14 LLCs on campus. Some are major-oriented communities, such as the Criminal Justice LLC. Others emphasize a common interest or hobby, such as Creative Expressions.

Stephen McBride, the Resident Student Association’s (RSA) vice president of housing services, said the current LLCs may make changes to accommodate the entirety of the incoming freshman class. He said more LLCs will be created.

Both Klotzbier and McBride said the faculty is working closely with student organizations such as RSA and Student Government Association (SGA) to decide on new themes.

“[LLCs help] you to establish strong friendships, because coming in … you know that you all have one thing in common, and it gives you something to bond over,” McBride said. “It makes the transition to college a lot easier knowing you’re not alone.”

Middler biology major Kelsey Kovner said she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea of living in an LLC.

“If they had interesting [LLCs] … that would be cool. I think it would be a good way to meet people and have a little bit of extra structure freshman year,” she said. She suggested television shows as a possible common interest to base LLCs around.

Kovner said the only drawback was that it may be a pricier option for sophomores. She said the West Village complex and Davenport, especially, are very expensive.

Freshman Chelsea Marcell, an environmental studies major, said she was “very glad” that she does not have to live in an LLC.

“I feel like you come to college to go and see diverse things, and to be stuck, like to have to be forced to be with just one group of people … I just wouldn’t want to do that,” she said. “I don’t think it’s fair. I think we should have a choice.”

While Armini said student interest is the primary motive for the change, he said it will have effects on surrounding neighborhoods as well.

“Our neighbors in Fenway and Mission Hill like this idea,” he said.

McBride said requiring freshmen and sophomores to live on campus would generally be a positive change to areas around the university.

“It’s allowing Northeastern to re-establish itself with the surrounding communities,” McBride said. “It’ll allow us to do more, because we’ll have better relationships with Boston. It’ll allow better things to happen, I think.”

A previous version of this article stated that students would also be required to live in living learning communities. This will not be a requirement for students. The News regrets this error.