Freshmen living in GW’s newest residence hall, the Potomac House, are not the only freshmen living in new rooms.
More than 70 new beds were created for freshmen through various renovations over the summer in residence halls including Thurston, Lafayette and Fulbright.
When the University was forced to stop housing freshmen in the Hall on Virginia Avenue due to D.C. zoning regulations that require all freshmen and sophomores to live within campus boundaries, it opened the new freshman residence hall Potomac House on F Street. The University needed to create new beds because HOVA housed 450 students and the Potomac House’s capacity is 379 students.
To help make up for the 71-bed difference between HOVA and Potomac House, the University created 21 new beds on the first floor of Thurston hall, said Assistant Dean of Students Rebecca Sawyer. She said the renovated space was formerly occupied by a computer lab, kitchen, gym and office space for the Center for Alcohol and Drug Education and the building’s Community Director. These facilities have all been relocated to Thurston’s basement.
Renovating space formerly occupied by Residential Property Management, the University also added two new beds to the first floor of Lafayette Hall, Sawyer said.
In Fulbright, 36 new freshman beds were created on the first floor from space previously occupied by Student Judicial Services and GW Housing Programs. These two departments have moved to new office space in the John Quincy Adams townhouse located at 2129 I St., a relocation that started over the summer on July 17.
The University also created beds in non-freshman residence halls including Guthridge, Crawford, International House and Francis Scott Key, Sawyer said.
She added that the relocation of SJS and GW Housing Programs creates a larger and more sophisticated office environment for the departments.
“The front desk has more room to handle walk-in traffic and being in a separate building gives our offices a more professional feel,” Sawyer said. “We were able to walk parents and students up to our offices during move in when there was a more complicated issue to address.”
Sawyer said she and Mark Levine, the senior assistant dean of students, also have offices in the John Quincy Adams House and that the Office of the Dean of Students oversees SJS.
“We can have the right staff available to handle any situation or to meet with a student and or parent,” Sawyer said. “We were also easier to find for all students and parents.”
The University used a variety of methods to alert students about the relocation of SJS and GW Housing. These included a press release, an advertisement in The Hatchet, flyers posted in the Marvin Center and a banner hung outside the new townhouse during Colonial Inauguration.
