In mid-June, Dickinson students planning to move into the residence halls Buchanan and Spradley-Young were notified that the dorms would be closed this school year, and they were being moved to alternate housing. On social media, including YikYak, students speculated as to why, discussing possibilities such as mold or maintenance. They expressed anxiety about the situation, given that for the past several years students have perceived there to be housing crises on campus, including a lack of transparency and clarity from ResLife.
According to Dave Walker, the College’s vice president for finance and administration, ResLife was never in crisis, but because two larger-than-normal classes of incoming students in past years, the College had been at nearly full capacity.
On August 22, the College shared that roughly two dozen high school students who are part of the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB), would be living in Buchanan Hall for the school year. Students expressed indignation and confusion at the announcement. CPYB is a world-renowned ballet program that has been in partnership with Dickinson since 1976.
The cohort of dancers living on campus are those who want to pursue dance professionally. They attend Carlisle High School or do online schooling during the day and attend dance classes from 3 to 9pm most days of the week.
The current housing situation is much different than it has been in the past. The College has 2,163 beds, but there are only about 1,900 students on campus. The Class of 2025 was the largest class in the College’s history, with 601 graduates, whereas the incoming Class of 2029 only has about 500 students, resulting in excess capacity compared to the past few years.
Last fall, there were 2,140 students on campus, which was the highest number in many years, leading to very few “swing beds” and much chaos perceived by the student body. However, now Dickinson has too many on-campus beds. Dean Stroud described the College as having been “bursting at the seams.”
The College chose to move students out of Spradley-Young and Buchanan, which both have 40 beds, to other available housing so as not to have to pay to keep residence halls open that did not have to be. The moves, according to President Jones, were “not meant to disenfranchise any of the Dickinson students.” Dave Walker said, “None of us want you and your student peers to feel blindsided by this.”
Three and a half weeks before the start of the school year, CPYB reached out to Dickinson and asked if they had any extra housing capacity. CPYB does not have its own housing in Carlisle and often places students with host families in town.
Walker said, “Initially when I talked to general counsel and George Stroud […] we were not sure if it was a good idea.”
Walker is CPYB’s point of contact at Dickinson and had been involved “a good bit in conversation with CPYB over the past two and a half years,” specifically their Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Ade and Program Director Alan Hineline.
Residence Life was shortly involved, and because Buchanan was already going to be offline for the year, CPYB toured and chose to rent the building. Buchanan was chosen because although it is in a good location, it is not a major hub of campus activity, so interactions between high schoolers and college students could be limited.
After discussions among senior staff and different departments at the College, Jones was “willing to give it a try.” He said, “Now that our head count is down, we want to use the empty beds and spaces in a way that we can monetize them and is utterly safe” because “we are in a pretty tight financial picture every year.”
The agreement between Dickinson and CPYB is very strict. “We didn’t jump right into this,” said Walker.
It is a similar model as the summer intensive program, when CPYB students live on campus for training for six weeks during the summer. CPYB doesn’t rely on the College for public safety or housekeeping. They have a two-swipe per day meal plan at the Dining Hall at a per-diem rate, but have most of their meals at the dorm. Five adult staffers supervise the students 24/7, and they have overnight security. They are only allowed to move around campus in groups at certain times. No one except dancers and staff are allowed to enter Buchanan.
When “The Dickinsonian” asked about the effectiveness of the security measures, particularly the propensity of students to sneak out, and heightened risks of alcohol exposure and assault on campus, Jones said, “I made the decision and I’m fully sure that we’ll provide for our safety” and that “We would not have made the arrangement if they thought the students would be at risk.” Provost Cramer had the same concerns, but was similarly confident in the College’s security and the high-tech protection CPYB provided. CPYB also has a “one strike” policy should a dancer step out of line in such a way.
Walker was clear that “We have not taken this arrangement lightly,” and if it doesn’t go well this year and does not seem viable in the long term, the College won’t continue it. “This is a unique opportunity that may not be the same next year.” However, Walker has so far heard nothing negative from CPYB and said, “They’ve developed a nice rhythm” in the past month and a half.
