Villages Housing Update: 2023 Fall Semester Possibilities
Ada Lambert | April 13, 2023
At the start of the spring 2023 semester, Warren Wilson College (WWC) residents were relocated to Blue Ridge Assembly after a series of burst pipes and water damage in Villages A and B.
When first inspected, the estimated time for the buildings to be fixed and livable again varied; Villages A had much more damage than Villages B. This was confirmed by Bill Christy, WWC president in an email where he noted an additional issue of the damage to the fire panel, which affects the alarm and fire suppression system.
From the start, the school knew that Villages A would be offline the rest of the semester. What they didn’t know was that Villages B would not be livable either.
In the original email sent by Christy, Villages B was meant to be finished and ready by March 1.
“The work will take several weeks, with completion by March 1st at the latest barring unforeseen issues,” Christy said
On Feb. 24, Tacci Smith, dean of students, sent an email notifying students that Villages B would not be ready by their original deadline.
“Originally we had communicated that we hoped the problem in Villages B would be fixed by March 1,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, we recently learned that due to supply chain issues delaying the required equipment including piping to fix the sprinkler systems, Villages B will be offline for the rest of the semester.”
To remedy this news, Smith and other administrators found an alternate way to house students on campus who no longer wanted to live at Blue Ridge Assembly.
“We will be able to move all the students back to campus as soon as this weekend,” Smith said. “We are able to do this by moving some students into currently vacant housing and also by discontinuing our on-campus quarantine housing in Shepard and the St. Clair Guest House so we can house students in those locations.”
Despite the school’s value of health and safety procedures, the choice of designating this space to students who were under the impression they would be back and living in their dorms seemed crucial.
“The decision to discontinue our quarantine space is in alignment with what almost every other college in the state and in the country is doing,” Smith said. “Recently we have seen a decrease in COVID cases in Buncombe County, in the state and nationally, and we have not been utilizing our quarantine space as much as we had in previous semesters.”
Julianna Cesarini, a senior at WWC, previously lived in Villages A but was displaced over winter break. After the most recent development on Villages, Cesarini moved back to campus and is living in one of the former quarantine spaces.
“I think the situation was difficult and there was no single solution that would have worked for everyone,” Cesarini said. “Living at Blue Ridge was not ideal for any of us, but my suitemates that ended up there and I made the best of it. Personally, I felt appreciative of [Smith] and [Sandra Hall] for their level of communication and how they handled the whole situation.”
As far as a timeline goes, the school is uncertain of when both Villages A and B will be livable again. Currently, they are not being offered in housing selection for the upcoming fall semester, but this is subject to change. Despite this setback, all students at Blue Ridge Assembly have been moved back to campus.
“Thank you for pulling together as a community as we navigate this stressful and ever-evolving situation,” Smith said. “Thanks to everyone who has supported the students who were impacted, and those who have supported our team as we deal with this situation. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any additional questions.”