Once again, TCU has more students wanting a place on campus to lay their heads than spaces available.

It’s no surprise that there is such a demand for housing. With gas prices still high, there’s no need for a long commute, and residence halls promote much needed community and consistency for students during a time where they are undergoing one of the biggest transitions of their lives.

With TCU now requiring freshmen and sophomores to live on campus, some students who wanted to live on campus had to find off-campus housing. Others are finding room on campus, but have to live in lounges, sharing space with pool tables and vending machines.

Residential Services even had to use part of the graduate student apartments as space for undergraduates. The university has also had to shuffle 14 students and a resident assistant to into the Grand Marc apartments who were originally scheduled to live in Waits Hall.

This could be understandable if it were a new problem, but it seems to be becoming a recurring theme. If sophomores are going to be required to live on campus, there needs to be enough room for them.

The administration and Residential Services can be admired for wanting to make residence halls more than a place to sleep with ideas such as living learning communities – but before they recruit, they need to make sure there are beds for those they are recruiting.

TCU needs to step up on its commitment to make this campus more of a community by providing more space for all students and ensuring that everyone who wants to live on campus gets the opportunity to do so.

Features editor Valerie Hannon for the editorial board