If you’ve never been to Disney world, you are missing out on the happiest and most magical place on Earth. Part of the Disney experience is taking Instagram-worthy photos in front of the Magic Kingdom Castle, getting spooked in the Haunted Mansion, and getting your slack-jawed face photographed on Space Mountain. The quintessential part of the Disney experience, though, is the hour long lines you stand in even though you tried to mitigate the wait with an extra purchase of the Lightning Lane. However, if you’ve never been to Disney, don’t fret! Because Southwestern University can provide you almost the exact-same experience, especially the long waits. Instead of Disney’s hour long waits, SU provides you with a month long wait; SU really loves to keep your cortisol levels rising–its part of the thrilling experience!
Recently, Southwestern has been experiencing a housing crisis. An overwhelming amount of the 2024 class is being waitlisted for on-campus housing. This is largely due to many study abroad students who aren’t sure whether they were accepted into their program and subsequently applied for housing as a back-up plan. Additionally, there has been an overall increase in the student population making both housing and classes harder to secure. 

      If you didn’t apply to live on-campus for the 2022-2023 academic year, chances are you didn’t hear about this predicament. And if you’re still waiting to find out whether you will have housing next year, you also probably didn’t realize all the pieces at play in this housing crisis. If you’ve ever dreamt of riding the haunted, dark hallways of Disney’s Haunted Mansion, apply for housing, and you’re sure to simulate the same feeling by being kept in the dark about the lack of sufficient housing and never-ending wait times. 

All Disney-related jokes aside, though many students failed to realize the fact that there was a housing crisis, don’t know what caused it, why, or if and how they’ll make it off the waitlist due to a lack of or simply miscommunication from Southwestern, res life is doing the best they can to accommodate every student’s needs and ensure living spaces for the upcoming year. Getting into classes and securing housing at Southwestern can surely be cause for an adrenaline rush, but we still love to #besouthwestern!