oakparkjournal.comDU's Residence Life started to move students to an off-campus apartment complex: The Bon Villa. The Bon Villa apartments are supposed to be a solution to DU's housing shortage. Hoping the transition would go smoothly, some students are unhappy with the living conditions. DU students are the first residents to occupy the newly refurbished apartments. However, other units are still under construction. How has this affected DU residents?
"They shut our water off three times a week since construction is still going on," said Michelle Behnke, a DU resident at Bon Villa. In addition to that inconvenience, Behnke and her roommate are being forced to give up their cats. The Bon Villa's pet policy allows cats but a $200 non-refundable pet deposit fee is required. So, why do the DU girls have to give up their feline friend??
felixgilman.com
According to an email from Residence Hall Director, Evy Koutzas, the girls are not allowed to keep a cat because of the policy on animals for residents ON CAMPUS.
Well, that seems unfair. The Bon Villa apartments are NOT Dominican University Property. The apartments allow cats and dogs. Obviously, Behnke and her roommate are not happy campers. This story is still developing...more to come!!!
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As a resident of the Bon Villa, I can attest to the miserable living conditions here. If it's not the water being turned off every other day, it's the sound of jackhammers in the middle of the afternoon.
ReplyDeleteYou should look further into this story and why Dominican agreed to place students in the building before construction was complete.
Yikes. That is a lot of drama.
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of my friends were reluctant to look into Bon Villa because it's the first year that Dominican has offered off-campus housing for its residents, and no one wanted to be a Dominican University guinea pig and test it out the first time around.
I sincerely hope that everything works out for these residents!
A very good friend of mine recently just moved out of Bon Villa because she was so tired of the construction.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that they allowed students in before construction was finished. That's definitely not good. I remember the Bon Villa apartments were discussed at several RSA meetings last year and the positives were more emphasized than anything else.
ReplyDeleteI was somewhat interested in trying off-campus housing, but I decided against it. It looks like I made the right decision.
I think because those students live off-campus and on non-Dominican University property, they should be under a slightly different set of rules. I don't see why Dominican students can't have animals in their off-campus apartments at Bon Villa, yet the building's policy allows for residents to keep animals. It's not as if a Dominican student's cat will pose a danger to other university students living in that same building. Plus, Bon Villa is NOT a residence hall. It's a completely different environment with completely different responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteI remember looking at the financial plan for residents choosing to live off-campus at the Bon Villa. I myself live in an apartment off-campus (not run by Dominican) in River Forest. Compared to the Bon Villa(yes, I actually did the math)I save about $2,000 dollars per school year over what those residents pay. AND I live in River Forest, I'm a three-minute drive from the main campus, there's no construction, and my water works (most of the time).
Maybe students would find it easier just to go their own way and get an off-campus living location that's not run by Res Life/Dominican.