Why does the College need new beds?
Dartmouth’s undergraduate residence halls have been at capacity for several years. We have maintained long waiting lists for housing each summer, as our existing residence halls cannot meet the current demand for fall term housing. In the wake of the Morton Hall fire in October 2016, we were forced to house many of our displaced students in College rental properties that would otherwise not be available for undergraduates. We faced this same challenge this fall housing the incoming class of 2021. In addition, many of the College’s older residence halls require substantial renovation to address deferred maintenance and to equalize the quality of residential facilities across campus. Any renovation or renewal project would require closing a current residence hall for at least a year and additional bed space would be required, providing “swing space” to maintain current capacity while such a project was underway. The current goal is to provide an additional 750 beds.