A while back, I was buzzing with excitement about what housing I could get next year. As a rising sophomore, tons of options opened up for me that weren’t there before, such as the on-campus apartments, Panther Hall and many others. Thinking of all the ways I’d decorate my new space and personalize just as I did with my current Tower C single had me feeling the college spirit again. 

Oh, how naive I was. 

In December when we were given our lottery numbers, I was completely confused on how the process would work. A lottery number for housing? What was I supposed to do with that? So I decided to ignore it for a while — or as long as I could without the growing concern that everyone else had a lower number than me. “I have such a bad number. It’s in the 3000s,” my friend had told me. 

Mine was 7024. 

For months, I went through a period of blissful ignorance, just hoping that my number didn’t matter and that it wasn’t that important for housing. Eventually, I found out it was. I had also gotten the third-to-last time slot possible for picking general housing. Still, I persisted on with a quiet conviction that it’d all work out. That was until my mom texted me the day before my time slot letting me know that there were only three housing options left. That text came before I opened the Pitt Housing Portal to see my only option left — The Hampton Inn. 

Being forced into the Hampton Inn for my sophomore year at Pitt didn’t even cross my mind as a possibility until it was presented as my only choice. Honestly, I still can’t believe it as I’m writing this now. Like, seriously?! The Hampton Inn. THE Hampton Inn. The hotel Pitt converted into dorms as a last-minute Hail Mary to get the overenrolled first-years from this year into some stable housing. That’s where I was subjected to go as a sophomore? 

It’s no new topic of discussion that Pitt has a big housing and overenrollment problem at the moment. Along with converting the Hampton Inn to dorms, many previous double-bed dorms have been turned to triples in Holland Hall, Nordenberg Hall and Forbes Hall. Lounges in Towers have also been converted into dorms. Living in Tower C — a dorm building that is already isolating — without any third spaces to meet people in the building is very hard socially. There’s seemingly no sign of these conversions stopping, either. Pitt is planning to increase enrollment to 22,000 by 2028, according to Plan for Pitt. It feels as though Pitt has no care for the living conditions of its current students and is only concerned with inviting more into the mess. After all, more students means more tuition money for Pitt regardless of whether there’s adequate housing to support them.

Moreover, the lottery number system itself is so ineffective and unfair to students like me who, through no fault of my own, get stuck with zero choice over what they’re paying over $10,000 per year to live in. I’m not trying to get too “woe is me” about my housing, but I honestly do think I have the right to feel slighted. I’m on the Dean’s List, am a Senior Staff Writer for the Pitt News, have a 3.75 GPA and currently have 52 credits as a first-year. I’m not a disengaged or struggling student. And yet, none of that matters. That’s the issue. The system doesn’t reward effort, involvement or commitment to the University. It doesn’t even guarantee a baseline level of quality. It’s random, and when combined with overenrollment it becomes inequitable.

To be clear, I’m not saying there’s an easy solution, either. I’m not sure what new system Pitt should use for housing, but at the end of the day that’s not my job. It’s the responsibility of University leaders to ensure that students with guaranteed housing also have a fair shot at livable, reasonable options. Students shouldn’t have to gamble for housing. If Pitt continues to treat it like a game of chance, the University shouldn’t be surprised when students start questioning what exactly they’re paying for. 

Heidi likes to write about film, pop culture and all things spooky. Email her at [email protected].