Guest speakers Jim McMahon, associate vice president for student affairs and dean of residence life, and Robert Blust, dean of admissions and enrollment planning, attended Marquette University Student Government’s first official meeting Thursday to speak about securing residence hall space for more than 100 freshmen and transfer students placed in temporary housing.

“Every student who wants to be in student housing will be,” McMahon said. “We are sure of that.”

McMahon was joined at the meeting by Sean Berthold, assistant dean of housing services at ORL.

Temporary housing locations on campus include McCormick Hall lounges converted to quad rooms, which currently accommodate freshmen men and transfer women, as well as Abbotsford and O’Donnell lounges converted to triples and quads. Some students aged 21 years and older are currently housed in Campus Town apartments.

McMahon believes housing is limited because the number of students who paid their deposits and actually enrolled at Marquette was surprisingly high this year. It is usually expected that about 100 students who pay the housing deposit will walk away from the investment and enroll at another university. But this year, only 50 students left their deposits while 50 others enrolled.

“Perhaps because the deposit was more money this year, it caused people to stick with their decisions,” McMahon said.

Berthold said the main goal is to not only secure housing, but also ensure students’ happiness regarding their living situations.

“This past week, our McCormick Hall staff spoke with these temporary students,” Berthold said. “Their interests are our first priority. We are (looking at) what second-year spaces are currently available.”

Besides utilizing lounges to accommodate students, building another dormitory is an enormous project that McMahon called an “expensive proposition,” but is certainly in consideration.

He also said that ORL is unsure as to what the new president’s priorities are regarding housing.

Many MUSG senators worried limited housing may eventually affect the entire Marquette community as larger numbers of students conduct later searches for off-campus housing.

“With this year’s student body, the influx of students will be looking hard to find off-campus housing,” Berthold said. “As classes grow, developed space becomes more limited.”

McMahon said a possible alternative is expanding the availability of off-campus housing, and to ensure university-owned apartments like Campus Town are at full capacity.

“Right now, Campus Town is at 66 percent capacity,” McMahon said. “If housing got so tight, does it not make sense for us to require that every bed is filled?”

Commuter senator Clyde Hoffman, a senior in the College of Engineering, argued that if the university mandated such requirements, many students may not sign those leases and consequently, even fewer apartments may be filled.

Ultimately, no concrete solution was provided to solve the current housing crisis.

After the housing presentation, the Senate allocated $2,575 to the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship student organization for speaker Bernard Amadei, the founder of engineering organization Engineers Without Borders, to speak on campus.

The Senate passed funding allocations with a 14-0-0 vote.

Sidebar:

MUSG will host a showing of the movie “Super 8” at the Varsity Theater this upcoming week.

This Thursday, tickets for guest speaker Frank Warner, famous for creating the website PostSecret, will become available. Warner will speak on Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Varsity Theater.

Sept. 27 is the second Fresh Fall Farmer’s Market, where organic produce will be for sale.

In the upcoming week, all organizations on campus will receive an invitation to “The Void,” a lip syncing competition. Applicants may apply through Oct. 8.

“MUSG presents: Craig Robinson Live at the Varsity” will be Tuesday, Oct. 4 in the Varsity Theater. Doors open at 8 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show. Tickets are currently available for Marquette students in the Brooks Lounge for $10 with a valid MUID, and will be open to the public for $15.