Around twenty students will stay on-campus for Thanksgiving break after the dorms close Wednesday morning.
Nick Hennessy, director of residence life, said there are several reasons why a student may request to stay over the break- the most probable reason being they are an international student.
“Most international students aren’t going to go home for such a short break,” Hennessy said.
Other reasons a student might stay include sports, homework, or no way to get home.
Only selected dorms will remain open over the break and only the students who live in these dorms will be permitted to stay. The open dorms include Ashley, Bacheldor, Chapman, Compton, Darrow and Dunbar.
Claire Wetterau, hall director for Harshman, said the building will actually be shutdown for the break and anyone found in the building without prior approval will be arrested.
A Residence Advisor will walk through the building every night to make sure nothing is out of the ordinary and the University Police will do rounds as well Wetterau said.
“The doors, windows and anyway to get into the building are secured from intruders,” Wetterau said. “It is a safe environment for people to stick around if they need to. The whole time I have been here there has never been a problem.”
Those who need to stay over the break apply for permission on-line through the residence life link off of the BGSU.edu homepage. The cost is $15 per night, so if a student plans to stay the whole break it will cost them $60.
Most students will be approved to stay as long as they have no prior behavioral problems said Hennessy.
Those who are permitted to stay will have limited access to the services the University normally offers. The computer labs, front desks, shuttle service and dinning halls will all be closed over the break.
Hennessy said the only people who end up stay are those who have no choice.
“Who wants to stay when they have the opportunity to go home and have a nice meal with their family,” he said.
Wetterau, who has not been home for Thanksgiving for the past seven years because she has stayed at school, said the residence advisors will sometimes put together a small dinner for those who stay.
“We would always get together with the international students and have a miniature Thanksgiving,” she said. “This was different for the international students because it was something they didn’t traditionally celebrate.”
The dorms will re-open on Sunday morning and the Union computer lab reopens Sunday at noon. The dinning halls vary in when they reopen – the earliest one being the Falcon’s Food Nest in the Union at 2:00 p.m.
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