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Lovett College could become overflow housing

lovett-overflow-housing-william-liu
William Liu / Thresher

By Prasi Desai     11/19/24 11:24pm

Students were asked about their willingness to live in the current Lovett College building if housing is unavailable in their college in the recent Survey of All Students. This question comes soon after news of Lovett’s relocation to one of the newly built residential colleges in fall 2026.

According to Lovett President Andrew Kim, the question on the SAS was not a surprise for students. 

“Many students remember how Old Sid became overflow housing and expected a similar outcome for Lovett,” Kim, a senior, wrote in an email to the Thresher. 



Editor’s Note: Andrew Kim is the Thresher’s Backpage editor.

Ayush Suresh, Lovett’s internal vice president, said that housing was one use for the current building considered by administration and Lovett’s government. 

“We’ve had discussions with admin about what the future of Lovett is going to be. There were a bunch of ideas that were thrown out about what might happen, and this was just one amongst them,” Suresh, a junior, said.

In a survey conducted by Lovett leadership following the news of the relocation, Suresh said many students — especially freshman and sophomores — were excited about the change in facilities.

“It’s recognized generally that the facilities need an upgrade, and people are willing to start that process,” Suresh said.

According to Kim, the current building would be repainted, but no large architectural or facility improvements are currently being discussed.

Regarding current conversations at Lovett, Kim said the focus is on ensuring Lovett’s culture is preserved at the new building through interior design.

“The conversation on Lovetteers’ minds is focused on earnestly maximizing students’ agency about what our new building’s interior will look like such that even if we move out of the current Toaster, we can feel eager to move into a ‘New Toaster,’” Kim wrote. “In the likely case that students will get to live in the current Toaster as overflow housing in the future, I believe it should be offered fairly to equalize the proportional availability of on-campus housing across the residential colleges.”

Suresh said the news of the college’s move was bittersweet, with many recognizing the need for change while older Lovett students and alumni lamented the loss of the building. 

“We’re already noticing a lot of alumni sentiment and even current upperclassmen sentiment about this being the final few years,” Suresh said. “I think we’re going to see a lot of the past of Lovett and the present of Lovett trying to collect its history and where we are right now as a culture and preserve it.”



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