Last week, the college notified McKelvy that non-scholar students will be moved into the McKelvy House next semester if the vacancies of only five students leaving the house for the second semester are not filled. Not only was this demand last minute, giving us only 10 business days to adjust and plan, but it has put us in a difficult situation. We do not want to compromise the integrity of our lengthy, in-depth recruitment process, nor do we feel comfortable having non-scholars living in the house. Although we expressed our concerns to the administration and residence life, our request to preserve the community was denied. The McKelvy Scholars Program is a long-standing institution that is a celebrated space within Lafayette College. We have a successful program that is fully enrolled, however, some students elect out of housing for need-based job positions and for going abroad. Allowing non-scholars into the house to fill these vacancies would compromise the selectivity of the program and the privilege of living in the house. We deserved to be given more time to make arrangements and we want to avoid this issue in future years.

While we work to figure out a solution for future semesters, we would like to ask for your support in communicating our discontent with the administrations’ request. Allowing non-scholars into the community brings a plethora of challenges: from safety to logistical concerns. If you are able and willing to, we ask you to sign our petition (https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/demanding-the-preservation-of-the-the-mckelvy) and contact the Office of Residence Life via email (reslife@lafayette.edu) and/or phone (610-330-5335).

Thank you for your support,

The McKelvy Scholars