Grace Reynolds, who held the role of director of residence life for more than 15 years, retired in December, leaving the Office of Residence Life without a director. This vacancy remains as the housing lottery for the upcoming academic year draws near.
In Reynold’s absence, the office’s senior associate director, Julie Mulé, was named the interim director of residence life.
“I don’t believe that the students will see a difference in how the processes are run,” she said. “There’s just a difference from who they’re getting their emails from.”
Mulé said she heavily collaborated with Reynolds in the past.
“Grace and I really worked together on some of the lottery processes and selection processes,” Mulé said. “I managed most of them, Grace managed the private off-campus.”
The senior-only lottery, the first housing lottery event of the year, opens on March 13, after having been pushed back one week to give students more time to prepare. The lottery has also been condensed into one day, with the second day of the senior-only lottery being discontinued due to low participation.
Two years ago, many rising senior groups were not able to get off-campus housing due to the over-enrollment of their class. The oversized class of 2026 is not expected to face this issue after the addition of McCartney II to the available housing options.
Some rising seniors said they are optimistic about their chances of obtaining the housing they want.
“The last couple of years the housing lottery has been kind of hit or miss, but with the senior lottery, I think things should go relatively well,” said Ryan Comisky ‘26, who said he is aiming to live in McCartney II with his friends next year.
Some underclassmen, despite not being in the first-choice lottery, are also feeling positive.
“I think it’s interesting to see how the lottery works,” Lily Jenkins ‘28 said, adding that she feels hopeful about getting a suite next year.
“It took a while to get my brain wrapped around all the dates and deadlines and how everything was going to be working for this year, but I feel pretty good about it,” Chris Nappo ‘27 said, having met with Mulé last semester.
Dean of Students Walter Snipes wrote in an email that Mulé “will continue to provide exemplary leadership with the forthcoming process.” He added that students should feel confident in expressing their concerns about the lottery to the residence life team.
Mulé encouraged students to read the lottery information on the residence life website and go to room selection drop-in hours starting on Friday.
Correction 2/21/2025: A previous version of this article stated that 385 seniors reside in McCartney II or 512 March St. 385 rising seniors selected during the Senior Only Lottery.