Forget a new water fountain, a flat-screen TV, or a massive renovation. The student apartments might not get a facelift, but they are getting two DCs and a president. Prior to this semester, the apartments have had one RA and shared an RD with Andreas.
The two DCs are Katie and Emily Kinzer, juniors who both transferred from Calvin College last year. The Kinzer twins will work closely with the apartments’ Resident Assistant Lydia Berglar. As for the Student Apartments President, Senate has sent an application for candidates to apply.
“The president will receive a small budget. Once we know who the president is, it’s going to be really helpful and we can start planning events,” Berglar said.
The Kinzers are already starting a prayer and praise and planned to do it every other week.
“Our hope is that the Student Apartments would be a place on campus that is defined by service and unity, a place that emanates the light of Christ, and a place that understands, experiences, and takes advantage of the power of prayer,” said the twins, who set Philippians 1:20-21 as the theme for the year ahead.
Berglar herself has made some strides towards improving the apartment community. The laundry room, a shack at the north end of the apartment, has been rearranged and redecorated.
“The laundry room definitely has its quirks, … but Lydia did a great job at making it a cozier and more welcoming environment for people to spend time in, especially if it's a big group,” Emily Kinzer said.
Hannah Bloomquist, RD of the Apartments, along with Berglar has been planning some bigger events. “There is an ongoing conversation of what to do with the budget,” Berglar said. One of the ideas Berglar had been brewing is to make an event in collaboration with the halls in transitional housing.
However, while the staff is pushing for more events, some may argue that one of the reasons students move to the apartments is to enjoy more freedom and getting away from crowded student hall life.
“The nice thing about being in the apartments is that it’s close enough to walk to campus events, but there’s enough distance that I can choose which events to attend,” a student said, who wished to remain anonymous. “I enjoyed hall life but it’s time to come away from campus.”
Another student stated that many students moved not to get away from hall life, but simply because of financial purposes.
“I think that people can choose to not participate, but having events will let people who move for financial purposes be more engaged. People hardly see each other down here,” said another anonymous student.
Apart from events, Berglar hopes that a student apartment president position in the senate will provide better representation for the student apartments. After all, “[We] could be easily forgotten,” Berglar said.