Kanoa Ikeda-Flynn
Staff Writer
From a recent statement by President Donna Carroll, the Priory Campus will no longer house students at the start of next school year. According to the update, the 95-year-old building has fallen into costly disrepair as of recent years.
The property had been purchased 15 years ago following a spike in demand for residential housing and master program classroom space. Today, the property is to be looked at with a different path for future investment in what Carroll called “an upcoming campus master planning process”.
Carroll had also made clear that the campus was by no means closed from its other activities. “Classes in social work, and auxiliary programs/services including the Siena Center, English Language Services Center, and the Goedert Center will continue to operate,” she said. Many students had voiced concerns over the lack of upkeep in Aquinas and it has caused many reoccurring issues due to new students consistently being recommended to move there. Common problems faced by students include the following:
• Broken shower heads
• Pipe leakage
• Missing balance valves
• Various pests including rodents and insects
Current Priory resident and transfer student Mason Baker had his own share of issues following his move-in during the start of last fall semester.
“My experience living at priory was poor for multiple reasons, the biggest being how cut off everything is. For example, if you need maintenance to come to fix something, you have to wait for them to come from the main campus, and they can take hours to come help. This happened with the washing machines at Priory, and it took about a week to get them fixed.”
According to Baker, a mix of frustrations from living in the hall alongside a lack of communication was another factor in what he believes to be many Aquinas residents dissatisfaction with the ordeal. “I ended up living here because the Resident Director (RD) recommended it to me, not telling me [Aquinas] was off the main campus, and falling apart. Part of that is my own fault for not looking into the campus before I decided to live there, but I still feel the RD should have explained in detail what the housing situation was like”.
Future plans for the property are already being discussed among Dominican faculty. Rearranging the housing and prioritizing different investment opportunities are being assessed by Student Success and Engagement (SSE) and plans for a layout is expected to be finalized later in the Spring semester.
ikedkano@my.dom.edu
