By Jennifer Regalado
Lehman College is known as a commuter college, but there is actually a residential facility for students on Bedford Park Boulevard. The three-year-old facility, established in a Bronx brownstone, houses 22 students.
Delbert Browne, the residential assistant, says that the residence is still part of a pilot program. Browne says there is a strong desire for more housing.
“It’s not the best space,” Browne says of the current brownstone. “It’s not a really viable place.”
As of 2011, residential assistants have been allowed to stay for free in the brownstone, due to the fact that they also work there.
At the moment, the brownstone only has a residential director, who is in charge of the whole building and a residential assistant, who is in charge of a floor, but Browne says that they need more staff to help maintain the house.
Browne claims that the facility is not established, and because of this, certain rules have been applied in the brownstone. Even though a curfew is not required for the residents, after a certain time the main door is locked and a code, which only the residents of the house could know, is needed in order to unlock the door. “It’s New York City,” says Browne, “a curfew doesn’t really make sense.”
Certain steps are required before a student is able to get a room in the house. First, a $25 fee is required for the application, which is non-refundable, then the application which is available online has to be filled. It is not guaranteed that the student applying will get a room in the house. As the Lehman College website states, “The college reserves the right to initiate a lottery process.”
There are different ways in which a student is able to pay for his or hers spot in the facility. They can go about it through financial aid, scholarships, or loans. There are three different rooming choices at different price range. First is the large single occupancy which goes for $817 per month, there is the single occupancy which goes for $765 per month, and lastly the double occupancy which goes for $687 per resident, per month, according to the website.
As of now there is only one available position left at the house. When you look at it from a business aspect, it is a really bad way of losing money if the house is not full, Browne said.
Few people know about the student housing offered at Lehman College, but even fewer know about the facility that existed before this one. The previous one was located in the Riverdale area, and was only used for a short period due to the fact that the lease expired.
Diana Morales, a sophomore here at Lehman, enjoys the brownstone. She says, “The people here are nice.”
Alison Wong, a Lehman freshman, agrees with Morales. She says, “RA’s are really nice and supportive.”
Both Morales and Wong who are part of the Macaulay program at Lehman suggested that the facility should provide more activities, such as more all-inclusive events.
The housing program was first established for Macaulay students, which consists of honors students, but as the program progressed, students in need of housing were also added.
“Macaulay students have some priority, but we need a balance,” says John M. Holloway, the Dean of Student Affairs.
There is potential housing in front of the Old Gym Building. “We are exploring the idea,” says Holloway. However, he said, Lehman College has to look at what it means for students “to live on campus 24/7.”
In the end, the residents of the brownstone hope that the pilot program continues to develop and expand, so that future student housing applicants could be accepted.
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