Senior Week is a time for the university to show appreciation for its graduating class through shared celebration. This year, however, while most seniors will be indulging in their much-deserved revelry, some will be busy sifting through boxes of belongings piled high in temporary housing.

Beginning May 14, Georgetown will completely renovate Nevils Hall for the 2011-2012 school year. This refurbishing is undoubtedly necessary considering the shocking degree of disrepair in these off-campus apartments; the drywall, windows, heating and cooling systems, bathrooms and kitchens will all be remodelled. The planned renovations are so extensive that university officials claim that the construction crew desperately needs the six days before seniors usually move out to finish in time for new residents to move in the fall. As a result, seniors still living in Nevils will have to leave their apartments on the first day of Senior Week.

While the cost of these renovations may be expensive for the university, seniors in Nevils will bear a bigger burden by being kicked out of their homes in their last week on the Hilltop.

The current conditions in Nevils are clearly unacceptable at a $55,000 annual tuition fee, but it is even more outrageous that the university expects students, especially graduating seniors, to deal with such an inconvenience.

The university has even acknowledged the inconsiderate demands they are making of Nevils seniors. Each student displaced by the decision to renovate Nevils is being awarded $200 in compensation. While a sign of good will, this small stipend will not make up the difficulties many of the Nevils seniors will face in packing up all their belongings a week before they leave the Hilltop.

Unfortunately, $200-per-evictee will most likely not be the only money the university will lose as a result of the cumbersome renovation logistics. After all, the first step toward good alumni relations is a good undergraduate experience. By souring seniors’ final days on the Hilltop, the university risks those relations. It seems unlikely any of these graduating Nevils residents will be jumping at the chance to sign a check to Georgetown any time soon.