Some might claim that the Great Plains of North America or the Monsoon Coasts of Asia are home to the most unpredictable and varying weather, but Fordham University students know that the place with the strangest climate is within our very own dorm buildings. From the scalding desert to the arctic tundra, Fordham has it all. With the temperature outdoors ranging from lower 40s to upper 50s Fahrenheit, the go-to outfit of all students should include at least a light coat. Even still, many students have been overheating just standing in their dorm rooms.
In my experience dorming in Queen’s Court, each night has become a struggle and, on many occasions, I have considered risking the $15 fee of staying at a friend’s dorm. Each night at around 4 a.m., the heat turns on. I know it is at this time because every time it turns on, the pipes (located beneath my roommate’s bed) start making a banging noise. It has definitely become a bonding experience to both be woken up at these early hours, but certainly not one that I would recommend. By the time our morning alarms go off three hours later, our room is already a sauna and I end up walking to class without a coat in 40 degree weather just to cool off from it. It is shocking to me that I went through the hotter months with no fan, but even though it is cold out, I now need one.
For the students dorming in Alumni Court South and Loschert Hall, this drop in temperature has come as a blessing. After spending two months living in the never-ending heat of this extra long summer, finally they are at an equal playing field with the other dorms at Rose Hill. Who needs air conditioning when you can just open a window to the fall winds? They must deal with lack of control over the temperature, but nothing can be worse than those first few weeks of pure heat filling their rooms. Finally, these students can enjoy wearing sweatshirts and sweaters without risking heat exhaustion.
In Walsh Hall, despite it being the tallest building at the Rose Hill campus, each room is set to the same temperature during these cold months. Students residing here are unable to control the temperature of their rooms once the heat turns on and the air conditioning can no longer keep up. Caroline Lindsay, GSB ’28, noted that at times it can become frustrating. “We can control the air conditioning, but not the heat so sometimes it gets too hot.” With the cold, brisk weather outside and the steamy, warm weather inside, students are left lost on what the proper attire should be. Do they plan for their walks around campus in a coat or do they plan for going into their dorm in a t-shirt? It is a difficult choice for residents to make each morning when crafting their various fall outfits.
At Lincoln Center, the students are living in luxury comparatively. Victoria Adeyeri, GSB ’29, is a resident of McKeon Hall and shared that students living there have the option to turn the heat off if they so choose — something completely foreign to the Rose Hill students. “Personally my roommate and I don’t have the heat on and keep the windows open so our dorm room stays cool,” Adeyeri said. Students living here are not forced to base their outfits around the temperature of their dorm, but base the temperature of their dorm around their outfits. The difference may seem small, but it creates a large change in their routines and clothes. Even with the option to turn it off and on, however, they are still unable to adjust the temperature within this. The choice is all or nothing.
In my opinion, it is time that all other residence halls follow suit with Lincoln Center and allow for residents to independently control the temperature of their own room. If not for the comfort of students, then at least for the overall fashion of the student population. This is certainly something that I would enjoy having access to and will simultaneously improve my fall wardrobe since I am getting tired of dressing as if it is still summer in November.
