[Tang-Residents] Updates on Housing in Tang

[Krithika Ramchander]

Dear Residents,

As you might have already heard, Senior House is being converted into a graduate dorm starting this Fall and will be referred to as 70 Amherst. This will provide approximately 120 new beds of single-student housing. Most of the units are singles with shared kitchens and bathrooms. These single rooms will be priced at $700/month. The dorm has air conditioning, will be entirely refurbished and re-painted, and will not allow smoking or cats. Incoming and current graduate students, living on-campus and off-campus, are being notified of this opportunity.

In order to accommodate the displaced undergraduate student population without burdening the already over-crowded undergraduate dorms any further, the MIT administration has turned to graduate dorms for assistance. Many of you might remember that we faced a similar situation in November 2016 when the administration was considering housing New House residents in Tang Hall. However, unlike last time, undergraduate housing is not being provided at the cost of graduate beds as we have a new graduate dorm now and the responsibility to support the administration is being shared by all graduate dorms, not just Tang. Further, this decision has been taken after consulting the graduate dorms. As of now, this change is expected to last for an year.

What does this mean for Tang? Undergraduates (only upperclassmen) will be provided housing on the third floor because of which the current residents there have been asked to move. We have not received official numbers about the total number of undergraduates we will be accommodating yet. While we understand that there might be concerns about the effect of this change on dorm culture, the THRA will work with the administration to ensure that this change is implemented as smoothly as possible with minimal disturbance to the lives of current residents. Further, there are several schemes such as a mentorship program involving pairing up of undergraduates and graduates which could make this a mutually beneficial experience. We will continue brainstorming about other such opportunities and will be reaching out to the Tang community for suggestions and feedback. We have had a successful experience navigating such situations in the past where we have housed undergraduates in Tang and hope that we will continue to do so in the future as well!

We will be hosting a Bubble Tea Social on 20th July from 6-7 pm to have an open floor discussion on this topic and would be happy to answer any questions you might have to the best of our knowledge. We will be sending out more details about this soon.

Thanks a lot!
Tang Hall Residents Association

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