Brown Hall to Remain Unoccupied for 2020-2021 School Year

By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

Brown Hall will be unoccupied during the 2020-2021 school year.
Photo from UM Student Housing

Brown Hall will stand empty for an unknown amount of time in an effort to keep students together as enrollment dips.

According to UM Student Housing Director John Yaun Brown Hall, a freshman residence hall will be unoccupied for the 2020-2021 school year in order to maximize spaces in other residence halls and to “build strong, vibrant communities.”

First-year students currently living in Brown Hall will move out at the end of the spring semester into several upper-class living options and incoming freshmen will be offered other housing options across the campus to “ensure residents experience a welcoming residential experience with programs, activities and participation in an involved and engaged community,” Yaun said.

Other residence halls on campus have seen similar consolidation steps leaving some floors empty.

While Yaun did not say whether the decision to leave Brown Hall unoccupied was a direct result of dropping enrollment numbers, the university has experienced declining enrollment since 2017.

“This common practice of adjusting for changes in occupancy rates is part of several strategic decisions Student Housing is exploring to ensure its commitment to providing safe, comfortable communities for its residents and environments where students can learn and thrive academically,” Yaun said.

During the fall semester, the university released 2019 data confirming that the decline is not only continuing but also rapidly increasing.

In the fall, the University of Mississippi enrolled 22,273 students across all six campuses, according to UM Communications.

In 2016, Ole Miss boasted the largest enrollment numbers in university history with 24,250 students enrolled, a 1.7 percent increase from the year before.

The following year in 2017, Ole Miss saw a 1.9 percent decrease in enrollment with 23,780 students in attendance. The decline continued in 2018 when 690 fewer students enrolled, resulting in a 2.9 percent decrease in student population and a student body of 23,090.

This school year, the university has seen an enrollment decline of 3.5 percent, with 817 fewer students and a total student population of 22,273.

Brown Hall will remain operational and part of residential options in the future.