with BETHANY POWLS
If you’re a Bethel student, it is likely that your inbox has been full of enrollment reminders from a variety of individuals— do not forget to enroll! However, this time of the year sets campus up for one of the most stress-inducing events known to students. If you are new to campus, you have probably heard of it, but have no clue what it is or how it works.
The Housing Lottery is an annual event that takes place on Bethel’s campus, includes enrolled students only, and is meant to secure on-campus housing for the following academic year. However, this even takes a lot of coordination, both from a staff perspective and a student perspective.
“The housing lottery is an event that takes place at Bethel to determine on-campus housing where sophomores through seniors get a chance to choose where and who they would like to live with for the following fall,” Hailey Hill, junior from Wichita, said.
As a Community Assistant, Hill was involved in organizing last year’s Housing Lottery, and will be assisting with this year’s Lottery. The whole thing is coordinated by Chywonna Gonzales, with the help of CAs and other members of Student Life.
The procedure for the Lottery is ruled by a list of rankings that will be sent out within the upcoming month. This ranking determines who gets to pick living arrangements first, which is a privileged position.
“The housing lottery is typically ranked Seniors at the top of the list and then juniors and then lastly sophomores. Then each grade is also ranked from the highest GPA down to the lowest… I believe that the housing lottery is effective. It rewards GPA as well as rewarding students for being upperclassmen,” Hill said.
If students wish to live on campus during the next academic year, it is important to think ahead for the Housing Lottery. There are set rules to follow for each living space, as well as paperwork to fill out once email announcements are made.
“The biggest thing that students need to know and to prepare for the housing lottery is that they need to be registered for next year. Another thing that students can do to prepare for the housing lottery is to be thinking about where they want to live and who they want to live with. Students need to keep in mind that to live in Warkentin Court you will need to have 7-9 people per mod and to live in Voth Hall you need to have 4 people per suite,” Hill said.
Most of the stress occurs when individuals can’t find enough people to live with or are anxious about reserving a certain spot.
“One of the common fears is that students will not get the specific suite or mod that they would prefer to have. This is where it would be helpful to have the highest-ranked person in your suite or mod group claim the location that you want so you don't have to worry about hurrying to figure out a different location,” Hill said.
