Lurking in the shadows behind the grand opening of the University of Iowa’s new dorm, Catlett Hall, is the unprecedented closing of another dorm, Parklawn, and the displacement of students who had contracted to live there for the 2017-18 academic year.

Late this summer, the Parklawn residents were contacted by UI Housing & Dining informing them about the temporary closing of Parklawn, despite their being bound to live there by contract. The residence hall is set to reopen in the fall of 2018. In the brief email and courtesy call, the students were given the option to either relocate to a standard dorm or an apartment-style dorm on campus.

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At a glance, it may seem as if the university did all it could to accommodate the sudden closing of Parklawn; however, after speaking to victims of the closing, I can assure you it was anything but.

Many students believe that the university’s poor planning in its decision to close the dorm late in the summer could have been handled in a more efficient way. Proper accommodations, on both the university’s and students’ behalf, could have been planned in advance. For instance, one student, Taylor Aaron, noted that she could have avoided many financial problems that she currently faces. Before Aaron was notified of the closure, she had made proper accommodations to live in Parklawn; however, once she was relocated to Mayflower, she was forced to make last-minute adjustments. This only resulted in her facing financial problems. She had to downsize from living in an apartment-style dorm, meant to accommodate two people, to living in a small dorm shared among four.

The issues don’t just stop there.

As another victim of the closing, Laura Jaime, will attest, she was extremely displeased with the way the university handled the entire situation. “Once I found out that I was being moved out of Parklawn to one of the other dorms, I wanted to cancel my contract, but the university wouldn’t let me,” Jaime said. Thus began her rocky start to the semester. “Imagine being forced to live somewhere you never wanted to. I don’t like it, and if I could, I would leave. The only reason I don’t is because I’m paying for it,” she said.

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From these testimonies regarding the university’s unprecedented closing of Parklawn, it is plain to see that the university has a severe problem in Housing & Dining. It is no secret that for the past few years, the university has had an abundant number of problems with admitting too many students and not having enough space, specifically beds, to accommodate them. Straining from expanded housing to dorm closings, it appears that the university lacks the necessary skill set in being able to properly plan living accommodations for its students. Not to mention that the closing of Parklawn was only a mere footnote in the announcement of the new dorm as a simple renovation.

From unnecessary financial strain to uncomfortable living situations, students can tell you that they do not appreciate the university’s decision to close the dorm.

I, on one hand, can attest that the university tried to make proper accommodations for all; however, it only tried.