Letter to the Class of 2010 Regarding Beach Leases

March 28, 2008

Dear Members of the Class of 2010,

Re: Beach Leases for the Academic Year beginning September 2009

If you are a member of the Class of 2010 and are considering living off campus in your senior year, please take a moment to read the following as it provides important information concerning the signing of leases.

Each October, the Office of Residence Life conducts a lottery for all students who wish to be released to live off campus/at the beach. This upcoming fall, members of the Class of 2010 (as rising seniors) will be eligible to participate in the fall lottery.

This letter is sent to review several important points about the signing of leases. I am sending this reminder letter several months earlier than normal because I want students and parents to be aware of these issues well in advance of the lottery. Please review this letter with parents, guardians or any other people who may be involved in your decision whether to live off campus:

Students entering the off campus lottery are not automatically guaranteed a release to live off campus. In any given year, the number of requests to live off campus typically exceeds the number that can be released. Until a student is formally released as part of the lottery, he or she is considered by Fairfield University to be an on-campus resident and will be held to the obligation to reside on campus as set forth in the student handbook. Fairfield University students do have a four-year residency requirement and need to be released from that requirement by the Office of Residence Life in order to live off campus.

For your own protection, you are advised not to sign a lease until after you have confirmed that you have been released. If you sign a lease and are not released by Fairfield University to live off campus, Fairfield University has no obligation to honor the lease you signed, or to otherwise accommodate any contractual residential relationships you enter into. In other words, students who sign leases prior to being released do so at their own risk. Again, I note this solely for your own protection. I want students to avoid the difficult situation that arises when they sign leases and make financial and other commitments, but then find out that they were not released in the lottery.

A student housing lottery committee is currently meeting to review possible changes to the off campus lottery system. While it is too early to know what changes, if any, will be proposed, it is important to note that any change to the lottery process itself is another reason why students should wait until the policy for academic year 2008-2009 is posted before taking any action with respect to the lottery process and lease signing.

There will be another reminder in the upcoming months, along with information directly from the Office of Residence Life concerning any changes to the housing lottery process. For now, I want to thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Thomas C. Pellegrino, J.D., Ph.D.
Associate Vice President and Dean of Students

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