Written by Jordan Bailey and Nick Michael
Despite the economic downturn, Harding has another record enrollment, which has caused continued overcrowding in residence halls. One of the administration’s responses to this problem has been to place 11 females in University House, the former residence of President David Burks and his family.
Last year, 10 girls were housed in the Ulrey House, which was called Oak Cottage, because of overcrowding, and this year that overflow was transferred to University House.
The number of girls was decided upon based on bedroom and bathroom space. Assistant Dean of Students Sheri Shearin said they have no more than four girls to a bathroom to mimic the dorms.
Shearin was told in June that the house would be used as a residence hall for females. After the Burkses moved out, Shearin had to organize furnishing for the house and arrange parking for the girls. According to Shearin, most of the furniture was transferred from Oak Cottage, which is now being rented by a family. Some items were purchased from the Burkses’ garage sale, and nothing was bought new.
Burks made the decision to use the space as a female dormitory, and the Board of Trustees agreed with his recommendation.
“There were some other options, but it seemed to be that the best option would be for girls to live in it because it’s close by, and it just seemed like a good functional use of the space for right now,” Burks said.
Burks and his wife made the decision to move approximately 18 months ago, and the decision was motivated by their desire to own their home. They have owned the land where they built their current residence for about 20 years, and they decided that the timing was right to make a move before he retires within the next five years.
“It also gives me the opportunity at this point in my life to be off-campus when I’m at home instead of on campus 24/7, and so at this point, I kind of value some time where I’m not always on campus,” Burks said.
The Burkses’ new home backs up to a green of the golf course in River Oaks, and he said he loves to play golf, so it is convenient.
Burks and his wife designed and built the house now called University House. For the first four years of its existence, the Burks family owned the house, but then they decided that it would be better suited as property of the school, so ownership was transferred to Harding.
“It became obvious, not only to us, but to the Board of Trustees that it basically was a university house, and like on most college campuses, it was better for it to be owned by the University, and so we transferred ownership over,” Burks said. “They bought it for the same price that I paid for it.”
According to Burks, the house was always intended to be the home of the university president, and it might be used again in the future for that purpose.
“When the next president is selected, and that timetable hasn’t been set, but when that happens that house will be available to be used by the next president,” Burks said.
However, if the new president chooses to live elsewhere, a more permanent decision about the house will be made.Burks said there are several options as to good uses for the building.
For the next few years, the house could continue to be used as a residence hall for females who qualify for privileged housing.
“I think if this year goes well, it’ll certainly be a consideration for at least a few years,” Dean of Student Life David Collins said. “I hope so because I know that the students who live there are enjoying it, and I know that there are some other students who would be interested in doing that in the near future as well.”
The application process for future placement in the house will be similar to that of other privileged housing on campus. According to Collins, room assignments will be based on a hierarchy of hours.
“From this point forward, it would be very similar to students who apply for Shores or Pryor,” Collins said. “It’s going to be considered privileged housing.”
The female students currently living in the house were informed about their opportunity to live in the house in mid-July. Shearin contacted each of the girls about the chance to live in University House. Most of them received phone calls, but two of them were in Greece, and they were notified by e-mail.
According to senior Rachel Klemmer, the abundance of space is the main difference between living in a dorm and living in the house.
However, not everything about their living situation is ideal. All 11 girls share a kitchen and laundry facilities, and they are obliged to follow the same rules as students living in other residence halls.
“It is being considered a residence hall, and the girls who are over there are under the same regulations that everyone in a residence hall is under,” Shearin said.
Additional restrictions have been added because there is not a dorm manager. The Residence Assistant reports directly to Dean Shearin, and certain privileges like Open House have been modified.
“Because there’s not a Residence Life Coordinator over there, they will not be having Open House,” Shearin said. “Females only are allowed in the house.”
The residents appreciate their living situation, and they have no complaints about the extra regulations.
“We can have our guy friends over in the backyard and have a couple of nights where we cook for our friends and have it out here [on the porch],” senior Sally Tucker said.
The residents of the house have divergent interests and majors, but they are all juniors and seniors who qualify for privileged housing. They include members from five social clubs, but Tucker said the group is cohesive.
“We’re really thankful for this opportunity, and it’s nothing that we did, and we just feel blessed to be in this situation,” junior Layne Collins said.
The other residents agree with Collins, and they have discussed the path that led them to live in the house and how grateful they feel.
“It genuinely is a blessing from God, I feel,” Klemmer said. “That’s not just a saying so that people won’t get mad at us for living here. We genuinely feel like it’s a blessing.”
