Last Friday, Residential College directors across campus announced resident adviser selections for the 2016-2017 academic year, throwing a proverbial wrench into the housing selection process. Groups of rising upperclassmen, that include RA candidates, now have to deal with the potential fallout of one of their own suddenly being plucked for a higher purpose. With one round of Washington University housing already passed and the second and final one approaching in just over a week, students in this situation are now scrambling to reconfigure their living situation lest that arrangement be made for them. We at Student Life believe the late RA reveal process puts an undue amount of stress on upperclassman housing and should be moved to earlier in the semester.

The RA application process is highly selective, affecting a much larger number of students than the ones that are chosen. Factor in the secondary housing groups applicants are a part of, and the scope of the RA decision is larger than one might initially think. Essentially abducting well over a hundred students from the housing process is the living arrangement equivalent of removing well over a hundred blocks from a Jenga tower all at once—the structure might stay intact, but whoever has to go next will not be happy.

Imagine this hypothetical situation. A trio of students is trying to figure out their housing situation for next year, but one of them is applying to be an RA. Since RA selection is so competitive, the three planned their housing situation assuming they would all live together next year. But, uh oh, Feb. 26 comes and Mr./Ms. potential RA has been selected to be an actual RA. Now the two remaining students have two options. One, they could attempt to find another apartment type. There are less two-bedroom options than three-bedroom ones, but thankfully, there are still several options across a range of prices. Or they can try and find one or two free agent students whom they would like to live with, a slightly more difficult strategy given the housing deadline is just over a week away.

This scenario assumes the two students will want to still room together. Perhaps the new RA was the glue holding their friendship together. If the two students decide to part ways, the Office of Residential Life has now created a pair of students floating around in housing purgatory with Judgment Day fast approaching.

Given the complexity of the housing process, the number of contingency plans the late date of RA deadline spawns is frankly comical.

“What are the two-bedroom options?”

“What if I need one on campus because I am kosher?”

“Wait, Lopata House is too expensive.”

“I think the third person we got is kind of creepy.”

Forcing students to rehash arrangements in just over a week with midterms bearing down is not an activity an administrative office should be promoting. Unless Residential Life can provide a valid reason for the late process, making the process earlier in the year is a no-brainer.