The Student Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution that challenges the University’s East Campus plans at a meeting Monday night.

The current renovation plans for the East side of campus ‘ designs that the University is moving forward with for the first resident hall ‘ are a departure from the traditional corridor-style dormitories with communal bathrooms that both Newing College and Dickinson Community are known for.

Matt Landau, the Student Association vice president for academic affairs, and Bradley Small, an SA representative, introduced the resolution that objects to the administration’s plans.

‘I think this University has many things to offer prospective students, most of which revolve around a variety of choices,’ Small said. ‘Housing is one of the things this University provides a wide variety of choices for.’

The current design for East Campus includes semi-private bathrooms, a feature that the administration members feel will be attractive to new and prospective students. Some students, however, feel that communal bathrooms are part of college life and are more social. If the current plans are enacted in every dorm in both of the communities, there would be no option of communal bathrooms anywhere on campus.

‘We have a unique campus with many different options, and having communal bathrooms should continue to be an option,’ Landau said.

The loss of that option has some students worried.

‘I think it would be a disservice to its current and future students to change the current housing options,’ Small said. ‘We pride ourselves on being unique, we shouldn’t change our housing because other colleges are.’

The vote was overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the communities corridor style, with only one student out of 28 voting no and two abstaining.

Jennie Law, the only representative who voted against the resolution, was concerned about possible safety issues.

‘The main reason that I opposed the resolution was that no one, the administration or the SA, seemed to be considering student safety in their plans,’ Law said. ‘I’m sure there was a lot going into the planning process that I was not privy to, but the impression I have received has been that it was not a major point in the legislation or the building plans.’

Communal bathrooms coupled with students’ lifestyles were also among Law’s concerns.

‘The safety issue does not come into play because I think that someone will sneak into the building and wait to attack someone in the bathroom,’ Law said. ‘It’s the fact that with the lifestyle of the majority of students on campus, which includes recreational drinking and sometimes more, impaired judgment may lead to behavior that otherwise wouldn’t happen.’

Small and Landau, however, do not think that communal bathrooms will be unsafe.

‘There is no way to prove that an incident will not happen in private bathrooms,’ Small said. ‘I lived in Newing for two years and do not know of one incident regarding student safety being affected as a result of the communal bathrooms.’

‘I am confident that everyone will be safe in a communal bathroom system, just like they are now,’ Landau added.

While the SA cannot directly change any building plans, the hope among many students is that the resolution will help sway administrators’ opinions. Newing College Council recently voted 32-0 against the latest floor plans.

‘I’m trying to be positive on this issue, so I do hope the resolution passed by the Student Assembly will have an effect on the administration’s decisions,’ Small said. ‘The resolution passed reflects what many students have been trying to tell the administration, but now that it has officially been passed this represents the opinion of the student body.’