President Judy Olian in a recent video explaining what to look forward to in the coming months and years at Quinnipiac. Screenshot via Quinnipiac University.
Students have complained about Quinnipiac’s tuition and where their money goes throughout most of their years at the university. However, on April 16, President Judy Olian posted a video to her personal Instagram and Twitter detailing new changes to residence halls and student center facilities.
“(In) Mid-May, we’ll begin updating our residence halls on Mount Carmel starting with Perlroth, Larson and Troupe and we will be adding air conditioning,” Olian said in the video. “We plan to upgrade the remaining halls in the next few years.”
Justin Ellis, a 20-year-old English major from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, thinks this is some of the best news he has heard since coming to Quinnipiac two years ago.
“The lack of air conditioning in buildings has been one of the larger complaints of the student body and to see President Olian make strides to change that I’m sure is just a part of what she has in store for us in the coming years,” Ellis said.
Other changes include refurbishing the Rocky Top Student Center with new furniture, a pool table, television and a full functioning bar with food services. The Student Government Association has worked on the Rocky Top pub initiative for about a year with senior class president Allison Kuhn and senior representative Joe Iasso drafting the proposal that received Olian’s thumbs up.
“I’m thrilled that university administration took such quick action to add something students wanted on campus,” Iasso said. “I am so excited to come back as an alumnus and visit the campus pub, I think it will be a great place for us to draw connections to each other and our alma mater.”
Although these future plans have most of the student body excited for the future of Quinnipiac, Matthew Forcino, a 20-year-old finance major from Cranston, Rhode Island, noted one important detail in Olian’s announcement.
“President Olian did add in the caveat that these plans are subject to trustee approval, indicating that they are not set in stone,” Forcino said. “I hope that this is just a cautious statement rather than an indication that these plans might not come to fruition.”
With the timeline for the improvements set to begin at the end of the semester and into the summer, students are hoping to see their large tuition bill going toward significant changes at Quinnipiac.
“The residence hall updates are not so much a necessity as it is an expectation of a school where tuition is over $65,000,” Forcino said. “I’m glad to see that administration has listened to what the student body wants.”