Duke to resume some pre-pandemic housing policies in the fall semester

Anticipating an improvement in public health, Duke is planning to return some housing policies to normal.

In a Wednesday email to all undergraduate students, Deb Lo Biondo, interim dean of Housing and Residence Life, and Christopher Rossi, assistant vice president of student affairs, wrote that the University plans to resume some pre-pandemic housing policies in the fall 2021 semester.

That includes returning to a mix of single- and double-occupancy bedrooms and requiring that all first-years, sophomores and juniors live in campus residences, including students who did not do so this year. 

They noted, however, that all bedrooms in Hollows Quad will remain singles during the 2021-22 academic year. All sophomores will live on West Campus residence halls in Craven, Crowell, Few, Keohane, Kilgo, Wannamaker and Hollows Quads, and juniors and seniors will live on West Campus or in 300 Swift and Avana Apartments, the email read. 

The University announced in July that it leased The Avana apartment complex for juniors and seniors this year.

All sophomores, juniors and seniors were also invited to apply to Living Learning Communities on West Campus. Duke announced last week than selective living groups will have housing in Edens Quad next year, a move that does not include LLCs.

Lo Biondo and Rossi wrote that the decision came because Duke is “tentatively anticipating an improvement of public health conditions over the next six months.” All plans are subject to change based on the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic, they wrote.

All rising sophomore, juniors and seniors planning to live on campus must complete the housing application between March 1 and 5, the email read. Students will receive their building assignment in late March and select their rooms at the beginning of April.

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