St. Thomas’ Undergraduate Student Government met Oct. 6 to discuss residence life on campus.

Guest speaker: Aaron Macke

Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life Aaron Macke discussed the recent residence hall renovations and the future of Grace and Cretin Hall.

St. Thomas established a two year residency requirement fall of 2021, meaning all students will have to live on campus through their sophomore year. With the residency requirement came residence hall overflows and the need for more bed spaces on campus.

“We spent about $120-130 million in a pretty short period of time to build Tommie North, Tommie East, now Frey Hall, and to renovate Ireland, Dowling and Brady and some of the variety of goals that came with that one was the increased capacity of beds on campus,” Macke said.

Even after the renovations, bed spaces were still limited on campus for students. This caused some Brady and Dowling Hall community lounge spaces to be used by first-year students who were left without a bed space.

The lack of space also applies to junior and seniors, causing Residence Life to possibly expand residence halls for students.

“If we continue to see demand from our juniors and seniors wanting to live on campus and living on campus, it’s making sure we have beds for that group,” Macke said. “There are no current plans to do expansion at this particular time, but we did plan ahead in terms of what that might look like and what that might mean to continue to invest.”

Second-Year Class President Moses Samson Yazachew expressed one of the biggest complaints from students: the lack of air conditioning in Brady and Dowling Hall.

“We’ve heard from them (students) too. We’ve also heard from their parents too. It’s such an interesting thing, because there’s never been air conditioning there,” Macke said. “I don’t know if it’s that the halls were renovated, so there was this expectation.”

Macke said during the academic year in Minnesota there aren’t enough weeks with the need for air conditioning for the new renovations to include a unit.

Sarah Wlazlo, neighborhood senator of Mac Grove asked if what, if any, plans are in place for Grace and Cretin Hall on south campus.

“Yes, that’s the big question, isn’t it?” Macke said. “I will be delicate and completely transparent, honest with you. Yes, the future of Cretin and Grace is likely in jeopardy.”

The future of these residence halls ties in with the future of athletics. Macke expressed St. Thomas’ need and plan for its expansion of athletic facilities.

“Now where they (new athletic facilities) end up going is still the question. South campus is a good spot. If new facilities go on South Campus, it’s likely that we’ll do something with Cretin and Grace,” Macke said.

“We do have that in the master plan that they are a big question mark. It’s the same for those properties along Grand Avenue,” Macke said.

Sydney LaBelle can be reached at labe7208@stthomas.edu