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A BitterSuite Situation

Once again Binghamton University officials’ plan for accommodating increased enrollment over the next few years has been exposed for what it really is: poorly conceived and fatally flawed.

The University’s plans to aid development of the former Drazen building in downtown Binghamton into a safe, affordable solution for campus overcrowding was intended to be a panacea last year after the University embarked on a long investigation to find the best provider for downtown housing. But recently, the developer folded the project due to financial concerns, leaving students in the lurch.

The failure of proposed Binghamton Suites, after extensive plugging by both BU administration and Binghamton mayor Richard Bucci, leaves at least 20 students living in the Grand Royale Hotel for $450 a month, about twice the rent that many off-campus students pay, with no prospect of the housing they were promised when they signed the lease. They are saddled with low-speed Internet connections, poor building security (pipedream’s reporters were able to wander the building as they pleased for over an hour), and can only use the kitchen on weekdays, which leaves much to be desired.

Because University officials lacked active participation in the creation of the Binghamton Suites, the students forced into the Grande Royale Hotel are not afforded the same luxuries as those students placed in the Holiday Inn University, namely speedy internet connections and better security.

With the first part of the new on-campus community not slated for completion until at least June of 2003, and transfer students occupying the local Holiday Inn, the University is running out of places to send its surplus students.

To depend on a private contractor while requiring no accountability to University objectives, BU cannot possibly ensure that a downtown housing solution is up to par. If BU wants to encourage its students to populate downtown Binghamton, it should have the courage, commitment and the moolah to truly support such a project.

University President Lois B. DeFleur has shown no signs of backing off her promise to increase enrollment to 15,000 students. Aside from changing housing policy to allow freshmen to live off-campus or ceasing to guarantee housing for transfers, it is baffling how BU expects to accommodate a larger number of students every year.

With the blessings of Mayor Bucci and the West Side Neighborhood Association, a group that aims to minimize the student presence in what they consider “family” neighborhoods, the University actively sought out a way for students to live downtown with assurances of quality housing, and hastily put its stamp of approval on Binghamton Suites’ proposal. Now that the Suites has failed to live up to its promise, University officials are left with egg on their faces for their endorsement.

Students living in the Grand Royale have mentioned suing the developer for failing to live up to its promises, yet they lack the resources to follow through. The University should stand up for these students, but since it declined to get involved in the process in the first place, it has no stake in the issue, and a court of law would likely throw the case right out, deciding that the University lacks standing to sue.

The University cannot be held responsible for compensating the students for the irresponsibility of Binghamton Suites, but BU officials should realize if they want to increase undergraduate enrollment, they need to ensure students are able to live comfortably in the local community. Any future plans must include the active involvement of Residential Life and the financial backing of the University. And for now, the 20 or so students living in the Grand Royale are paying the price for the University’s mistakes.