Officials call for students to vacate
Campus Times
September 17, 1999
Junior Ahmad Rasshan takes advantage of the shuttle service now offered
for students residing at The Claremont Inn. Todd Allen shuttles students
back and forth with pick ups every half hour during the weekday and every
hour on the weekends. The service provides The Claremont Inn residents with
a means of safe and reliable transportation to and from school.
by Alisha Rosas
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Three weeks before school started, University of La Verne officials
were informed that the Claremont City Council had planned to request an
injunction against The Claremont Inn for allowing students to reside there.
The problem resulted from a land use issue concerning a zoning law that
limited contracts to not more than 30 days.
Due to a lack of space for on-campus living at the University of La
Verne, the Office of Housing and Residential Life contracted with The Claremont
Inn this year as a temporary alternative to a housing overcrowding.
Now, after contracts have been signed and students have already moved
in, miscommunication between the city of Claremont and the hotel officials
have made it so that instead of living at the Inn for the school year, 117
residents will have to move out Dec. 17, immediately after finals and the
end of the fall semester.
Anthony Witt, director of community development for the city of Claremont,
explained the reasoning for considering the request.
"We were just enforcing our regulations," he said.
Witt also claimed that although The Claremont Inn and ULV were aware
of the plans made to lodge at the hotel, the city of Claremont was not notified
in any way until late August. "We knew nothing about it," he said.
However, Philip Hawkey, executive vice president at ULV, said he personally
called the city to gather information regarding transient occupancy taxes
and questioned if the tax would apply to ULV while students stayed at The
Claremont Inn.
"The city clerk faxed me back with the information about the taxes,"
Hawkey said, which confirmed that the city had some knowledge regarding
ULV students living at the Inn.
Hawkey also stated that there had been a "long range of problems
and animosity between The Claremont Inn and the city."
Julie Thurman-Francisco, director of housing and residential life, agreed.
"There has been some tension between the city and The Claremont Inn,"
she said, "and unfortunately, we were just the victim in the middle
of it."
After speaking with President Stephen Morgan, the city of Claremont
decided to extend their zoning code until the end of the semester because
it "was sympathetic with the student situation and wanted to accommodate
a short solution," Witt said.
Hawkey added, "The University did not want a problem with the city.
We told them that we had no prior notice [in regard to the zoning code]
and that we had a legal agreement by law that The Claremont Inn signed."
A brochure for The Claremont Inn invited all to "Come and spend
a day, a night, or a week" at the hotel but failed to add "and
only for one semester" to it.
With a class of 453 new students entering ULV this year, increasing
the school's population dramatically, the question of where to place these
students became apparent.
The Claremont Inn seemed perfect to students. The hotel had an entire
section of its building open for use, was willing to let the University
occupy it and even had a pool for recreation.
Together, ULV and the Inn set everything up and wrote a contract. Students
were to move in to the hotel and abide by all rules set by Housing just
like students living on the main campus. Notices were sent verifying room
acceptance and room numbers, all while summer turned into fall.
Currently, students are residing in one section of the hotel's rooms.
When walking through the hallways, one would find it difficult to distinguish
the difference between the hotel and a regular residence hall. Loud music,
decorated doors and soda machines are but a few things that make the hotel
simulate living quarters at ULV's main campus.
For many freshmen, living on campus is an experience in itself. But
the 65 freshman students living at the hotel have to experience on-campus
living 15 minutes away.
"We attempted to have returning students live at The Claremont
Inn," Thurman-Francisco said. "We tried our best to get the first
year students on campus, but I feel strongly that we have really simulated
a resident hall experience over there.
"We have four staff members, plus a professional staff member supervising
the halls, we're having programs, we are doing the same types of things
we do on campus. The only difference really is that you can't roll out of
bed and run to your class."
There are, however, a few other differences. The city of Claremont has
restricted any ULV student living at the hotel from using any type of coffeepots,
refrigerators or microwaves. They claim that it will cause an electrical
overload upon the Inn and have made 24-hour security mandatory. Phone privileges
are also different. Every call placed outside the hotel will cost 25 cents,
which includes local calls.
Every half-hour shuttle buses provide students the transportation to
travel back and forth to attend classes or to eat. Students take shuttles
to the main campus to use their meal cards at Davenport Dining Hall.
"We're still in the process of having a set schedule," said
Kenia Magallanes, resident coordinator, in regard to the shuttle usage.
Erica Weiner, sophomore sociology major, enjoys living at the hotel.
She enjoys having her own bathroom, access to a pool and finding an easy
parking space. She is not even worried about not knowing where she will
live during spring semester.
"I am pretty optimistic that everything will fall into place. I
believe that the school will do the best it can to provide for us,"
she said.
Giselle Matus, senior public administration major and first-year resident
assistant, did recognize the adjustments off-campus living required.
"Over here, it is more challenging. We feel like we're still commuters.
It's also harder to enforce the rules here," she said.
"I think it's [harder] because freshmen come in here not knowing
the rules and not knowing what is expected. I think that that makes it more
challenging because we have a lot of freshmen; and not to insult them, but
they are relatively more immature and you have to enforce the rules more."
On ULV using the hotel as a method of on-campus living, Matus said,
"I think [this is a positive experience] for the upperclassmen because
for those of us that lived on campus, it's like getting away," she
said.
"For the freshmen, I see this as a negative thing," Matus
said, "because they should get the on-campus experience rather than
having the distance [from ULV]."
