With less than two weeks until she had to leave Florida for the University, DeShauna Henry still didn’t have secure housing for her freshman year.When she applied June 2 to live in a residence hall, the soon-to-be biological sciences freshman was immediately notified the residence halls were filled to capacity, and she would be placed on a waitlist while Residential Life weeded through the list of students who were already assigned to a residence hall. ResLife advised Henry to arrange for alternative housing.”I looked [for an off-campus apartment], but I didn’t really go to [Baton Rouge] because I’m from Florida,” Henry said.She chose to ignore ResLife’s recommendations and hoped a dormitory would become available — her scholarships would pay for a dormitory, whereas her parents would have to pay out of pocket for an apartment.After a summer of uncertainty, Henry said she received her room assignment in Herget Hall on Aug. 10, within days of her move-in date.The waitlist is new to the 2009 school year.ResLife — which Director Steve Waller anticipates will house 65 percent of the incoming freshman class — implemented a waitlist May 6. Students who applied for housing after May 6 were placed on the waitlist, and they were advised to make alternative housing arrangements, Waller said.Students who applied to the University prior to June 1 also had the option of applying for housing.”[The waitlist] makes it much easier for the students that aren’t on the waitlist — they get their assignments,” Waller said. “My goal [for 2010 is for] everybody to get an assignment by the time they come to freshmen orientation. Then we will do an automated waitlist.”In 2008, Waller told The Daily Reveille more than 200 people were turned away because demand for housing exceeded supply. The last 26 male students to apply were temporarily housed in lounges and kitchens of the residence halls in an attempt to house as many residents as possible.The 26 males in temporary housing included three students living in a kitchen in McVoy Hall with the stove deactivated.”My philosophy is, if I put someone in an overflow space … the other 90 people on the floor don’t have a lounge, don’t have a kitchen,” Waller said. “We don’t penalize the students who apply early for those who apply late.”ResLife added 149 beds to residence halls by turning two-bed rooms in Pentagon residence halls into three-bed rooms. While Waller said the dormitories were designed to house three students, they were reconverted to hold two for the 2009 school year.”I get no state funding, so all my resources to support the housing system at LSU comes from rent and conference housing,” Waller said. “That’s why in the past you would do [overflow] because you couldn’t afford to lose that revenue.”Waller said there were 402 people on the waitlist at its peak in mid-July. As ResLife has given room assignments to waitlisted students and received cancellations, more than 120 students have been moved off the waitlist.While the incoming class has 250 fewer residence hall applicants than the 2008 class, it is up more than 250 applicants from 2007, Waller said. The 2007, 2008 and 2009 numbers are reflective of the size of the respective classes — the overall freshman class in 2007 had 4,600 students while it had 5,100 students in 2008, Waller said.”The quality of what we’re offering — we’re seeing more people wanting to live on campus than in the early ’90s,” Waller said of the growth. “We have a lot more to offer — much nicer facilities than we had 10 years ago.”- – – -Contact Lindsey Meaux at [email protected]