This article is part of The Daily Gamecock's April Fools' edition. It is not real.
“We expect that Tent Village will actually be quite popular with students,” said Kirsten Kennedy, housing director. “The beauty of the historic Horseshoe will literally be right outside their doors — well, door flaps.”
Tent Village will consist of 100 tents placed across the Horseshoe in rows, or “halls” of 10 tents, which will house two students. This “hall-style” encampment will run students the same price as indoor hall-style residence halls like South Tower and McBryde.
“Tents are a lot more expensive than you would think,” Kennedy said. The tents that Housing has chosen to use cost almost $200 apiece.
There will be one resident mentor for each hall, most of them having worked in different residence halls in years prior.
“It probably won’t be much of an adjustment, going from McBryde to Tent Village,” said Danny Carroll, a second-year biology student and future Tent Village RM. “You have to look on the bright side; it will definitely be a unique experience. Still, I’m going to miss having a bed.”
Residents will be provided a tent in an assigned location, but they will have to provide their own sleeping bags and pillows. Air mattresses will not be allowed due to a lack of available electricity and flooding risks.
“Since students aren’t allowed to have extension cords in any residence hall, not just Tent Village, it’s not possible to reinflate air mattresses every night,” said Ashley Platt, the newly-hired Residence Life Coordinator for Tent Village. “Plus, with Columbia’s unpredictable thunderstorms and flash flooding, the last thing we want is a student floating away in his or her sleep.”
While some have expressed concern about the tents’ vulnerability to the elements, Platt is encouraging them to put their worries to rest.
“Really, it’s no more risky than living in Bates,” Platt said.
In fact, some students who previously had assignments in Bates House and The Roost have requested to change their assignments to Tent Village.
“At least in the tents I’ll be within a reasonable distance of my classes,” said Tyler Whitney, a first-year history student.
Bathrooms for Tent Village residents will be what Mullis called “hall-style,” a row of ten portable restrooms and five outdoor showers adjacent to the Maxcy Monument.
The low-impact encampment is another step for housing in its mission to become more environmentally friendly. The tents require no electricity and create almost no impact on the environment.
“We’re looking into getting Tent Village LEED certified,” Kennedy said. “We’re expecting a silver, maybe even a gold. I mean, it’s a really unprecedented move.”
While Tent Village will create 200 new open spots for upperclassmen seeking on-campus housing, this will only accommodate half of the students still waiting for assignments.
“There’s only so much room on campus,” Kennedy said. “Students still without an assignment can either seek off-campus housing or wait for a room or a tent to open up.”