(In our print edition we made the misconception that the renovations done in Kilhefner were the source of students being displaced. After looking further into the story, we found that increased enrollment and a higher retention rate were the primary causes. This story is the revised “Kilhefner Crisis” story that ran in the print edition of The Collegian on Aug. 25.)

Due to increased enrollment and a higher student retention rate than expected, incoming students at Ashland University are left without beds.

In the fall of 2015, the University’s Residence Life Department announced that Kilhefner would get a “refresh” over the summer.  There is a misconception around campus that these renovations were the primary cause of the shortage of male beds, although when these changes were made, the total number of buyouts allowed on campus actually decreased, Director of Residence Life Kim Lammers said.

Last academic year, there were 162 buyouts on campus. This year, there are only 111. These do not include Greek Life buyout numbers.

“We were trying to be conservative so that we did not run into a housing crunch like this,” Lammers said. “What is good, is that we have had an [increase] in first-year student enrollment and we have also had a really good retention year.”

The bed count from last school year to this year has not changed.  Although beds were removed from Kilhefner, those are still considered double rooms.  Residence Life simply changed where the other buyouts on campus can happen.

Despite decreasing the number of buyouts, incoming students are finding that they are being displaced. Rather than living in a dorm, they are being forced to live in either the Phi Delta Theta or the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity houses on campus.

“I do not think that [Residence Life] expected us to react the way that we did; I think they wanted us to [handle] it,” one fraternity member said. “To a point, that is how we have to respond because they are ultimately going to do whatever they want to our house. It is university owned- they are not even allowing us to [make changes] with our own money.”

Incoming students who were displaced were caught by surprise when they were told they would have to live on fraternity circle rather than the typical dorms.

“It was all a surprise to me because I did not know how the dorms were going to be set up. I was late in coming to Ashland, so I feel like they just put me somewhere with a roof over my head,” said one independent. “All of the other dorms have more diversity and more people. I am not in a fraternity, I play football; there is only a few [of us].”

Lammers acknowledged that while this may not be the most ideal situation for students, these non-fraternity members, or independents, are going to have to live in the fraternity houses until beds become available.

“When we realized that we were running out of male beds in traditional residence halls, we sent an email to the fraternity presidents, fraternity house managers, advisors, and the director of Greek Life,” Lammers said. “[We] let them know that if they had not hit their “housing occupancy” numbers, then we may have to use beds in their houses. Unfortunately, that all came true.”