Third-year College student Joy Tongsri received a surprise in her mailbox last Friday: a letter congratulating her on being selected to live on the Lawn next year.
Tongsri was given the honor together with 46 other students who will receive their notification letters by Feb. 14.
The three-part application asked applicants to rank their most meaningful activities and detail their plans to further the mission of the Lawn program.
Tongsri said in her essay she explained her desire to extend the "healthy balance between classes, friends and activities" that she found this year into her fourth year.
Earning a room on the Lawn, however, presented a dilemma for third-year Engineering student John Steck, leader of HooCrew, which supervises the popular University Hall camp-outs before basketball games. Steck said he is not sure he will accept the offer to live on the Lawn because parking is not guaranteed to the Lawnies and he needs to be able to drive between Grounds and U-Hall for HooCrew.
Third-year College student Natalie Shonka, also selected to live on the Lawn, said she looks forward to using the visibility of living on the Lawn to give back to the community. She is a member of the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society and said she would like to encourage more female leadership in the organization.
In choosing the new residents of the Lawn, members of the Lawn Selection Committee took one week to read through 904 pages of the 226 applications.
University Judiciary Committee Chairman Paul Gigante, who served on the selection committee and currently lives on the Lawn, said he looked for students who were committed to and passionate about their activities.
Gigante offered the future Lawnies a word of advice, suggesting they "get to know [their] fellow residents on a very personal level."
Student Council President Abby Fifer, who also served as a selection committee member, disputed claims that the Lawn selection process is biased.
"I wish everyone who complained about the Lawn process could have read all 226 Lawn applications, so they get to see how truly passionate and dedicated so many members of the school are," Fifer said. "After that, I suspect that their only complaint would be that there should be more people given the chance to live on the Lawn."
Not all students have received their notification letters yet.
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