Brown and White Vol. 135 no. 22

              The Brown and White Vol. 135 No. 22
Friday, November 30, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’
A SouthSide controversy
113 students applied for leases after housing email
By JULIA DIRUBBO
B&W Staff
Lehigh sent out an email in late
October informing students that
there would be no available housing
for upperclassmen during the 2019-
20 academic year.
The university recanted its state-ment
two days later, but during those
two days, many students signed leas-es
with off-campus housing affilia-
Courtesy of Lehigh University website
On Oct. 29, 2018, Lehigh sent an email that was later rescinded announcing the
demolition of Trembley Park and the loss of on-campus housing for upperclassmen.
Upon the announcement, many rising juniors signed leases for SouthSide
Commons, an apartment complex which is to be constructed by fall 2019.
tions because they were fearful of
being displaced.
Benjamin Blackwell, ’21, said he
and his roommate signed a lease
with SouthSide Commons because
they were afraid they wouldn’t have
a place to live.
“We never received clear communi-cation
from the school about the situ-ation,
and we still don’t entirely know
what’s going on,” Blackwell said.
SouthSide Commons Director of
and are planning to stay put,” she
said. “I think and I hope that people
are feeling more comfortable with
where they landed, despite a process
that did not go as it should have.”
Blackwell said he wishes he wasn’t
rushed into a decision like this, espe-cially
since he was interested in
applying to become a Gryphon.
“We have our lease available to
sign in SouthSide Commons, but we
still would prefer to go through the
lottery system and live on campus,”
he said.
Fairbairn shot down the notion that
the only reason SouthSide Commons
will have enough business next year
is because of the original housing
email that misled upperclassmen
about housing options. In fact, all
studio, two-bedroom and three-bed-room
apartments were leased before
the email was sent to students.
“There was a significant amount
of generated interest in SouthSide
Commons well before the email came
out,” Fairbairn said. “We began
receiving applications for leases back
in April, and continued to receive
them well into the fall.”
Blackwell said he plans on sticking
with his lease for now, despite the
fact that SouthSide Commons comes
with a higher price tag than most
on-campus alternatives.
“It seems like now we are just
going to live in SouthSide Commons
and find a way to afford it since noth-ing
else seems reliable right now,”
Blackwell said.
Operations Vickie Fairbairn said
after the university retracted its first
email, four students came forward
asking to cancel their leases.
The four students who came for-ward
pale in comparison to the num-ber
of students who actually signed
leases during this two-day period —
Fairbairn said SouthSide Commons
received over 113 lease applications
in those 48 hours. These students
were given the option to cancel their
leases.
Dean of Students Katherine
Lavinder said students were given
the option to work with her office if
they wanted to be released from an
off-campus lease — not including
SouthSide Commons — that was
signed in the two-day period between
emails.
“In the first few days after the
email, we were hearing a lot of feed-back
from students that they felt
pressure to sign leases, which is
where the messaging stemmed from
inviting students who had concerns
about being locked into a situation
to come to us for support,” Lavinder
said.
However, she said no students have
requested her office’s assistance.
Lavinder said some students may
be content with their leases, having
confirmed they place to live next
year.
“It’s hard to say if we’re not hear-ing
from anyone because people are
working things out independently or
if they’re happy with where they are
Campaign for Lehigh builds from launch events
Kate Morrell/B&W Staff
GO: The Campaign for Lehigh has continued to lead campus growth activities since
the launch event on Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 on the UC Front Lawn. The campaign’s
goals are to increase engagement and monetary involvement in order to create a
thriving future for the university.
GO: The Campaign for Lehigh
launched last month with a series
of events on campus and across the
country.
At the campus launch event,
thousands of members of the
Lehigh community enjoyed a per-formance
by pop singer Halsey.
Kevin L. Clayton, ‘84, ‘13P, the
chairman of the university’s board
of trustees, donated $20 million
dollars for the renovation of the
University Center.
Although the three launch
events are complete, the Office of
Development and Alumni Relations
continues to work toward the suc-cess
of the billion-dollar campaign.
“This isn’t about stuff, this
isn’t about money,” said Deirdre
Kwiatek, the campaign director and
the senior director for Development.
“This is about Lehigh University —
our storied past, where we are today
and the impact we want to have on
our students and the world.”
Kwiatek said the campaign is
By ADRIAN THOMAS SUAREZ
B&W Staff
more than a capital campaign — it
is a comprehensive campaign at its
core. The campaign is focused on
opening doors for donors, encour-aging
critical alumni engagement
and serving as a “rallying cry” for
the transformation of the whole
university.
Kwiatek said the university has
monetary and engagement goals
it hopes to achieve with the cam-paign.
“(The monetary) one is to raise
more than $1 billion,” she said.
“The university has already fund-raised
$550 million, more than fifty
percent of its $1 billion goal, and
the most in the university’s fund-raising
history.”
Kwiatek said the campaign aims
to engage at least 50 percent of
the alumni body in campus life
and culture. Alumni engagement
can include event attendance, men-torship,
internship offers, gifts or
speaking on campus, for example.
Kwiatek said the launch of the
campaign involved three primary
See CAMPAIGN Page 3