Heads Up CUA: Trailer Housing is Coming to Lawns Near You
Image Courtesy of Catholic University Libraries
By Elliana Arnold
Catholic University’s student body has been growing significantly these past few years, and in order to accommodate the larger class sizes, the university plans to construct trailer housing on the lawns near Curly and Marist next year.
This new residence community will be officially completed and opened next spring 2025, and it will initially serve students coming back from studying abroad, transfer students, and graduate students. The future residents of these dorms beyond this spring semester is still currently undetermined, but these trailers will most likely house upperclassmen.
The trailers will offer an additional 90 beds for students to live in, and they will come with several amenities. Each apartment-style trailer will include two bedrooms, intending to house four people per unit, a suite-style bathroom, a kitchen, and personal laundry. Meanwhile, there will also be two larger trailer buildings that will offer communal-style living with shared bathrooms.
This will not be the first time CUA has implemented trailer housing. Several years back, the university constructed used trailers, and this time, CUA will be buying new trailers.
Multiple faculty members said that last time, students enjoyed this residence community.
Maggie Dethlefsen, a sophomore politics major, is looking forward to the new housing option.
“The trailer housing is a creative solution to the housing crisis on campus, and it’s an interesting opportunity for students to explore while still on campus,” Dethlefsen said.
Kelly Thomason, a freshman architecture major, expressed concerns.
“It’s a good temporary solution, and it offers students a different style to live in, but I don’t think that it should be permanent,” Thomason said. “I worry about safety because it’s easier to hide things among the trailers, especially on a college campus.”
One of the resident assistants, Keli Georges, a sophomore politics major said, “Being an RA for this community would be a little different, since we couldn’t enter the apartments on our walks.”
However, she is optimistic about this new option and is intrigued about being an RA for this new housing community.
This new trailer housing is a temporary solution to the increasing student body. A few years back, the university planned to build a new residence hall on Opus lawn; however, Covid-19 prevented this plan from coming to completion. With this new housing project, the university aims to have sufficient housing to welcome more students on campus.
