Dorm rooms in the new Alumni Hall will be open to upperclassmen following a petition made my students on campus.

In a meeting with Director of Residence Life Alerie Tirsch, public accounting major Brenton Fitzgibbon presented the petition, and plans for Alumni Hall were discussed.

“It has been determined that Alumni Hall will have a limited number of spots for returning students in the fall 2015 semester,” Tirsch said. “The details of these spaces are still being worked out, but the information will come out with the housing selection process next semester.”

The first of the dorms to be completed by the Master Plan, Alumni Hall was originally reserved for freshmen residents, causing many upperclassmen to form a petition in complaint.

Fitzgibbon, with the help of other students, began the petition. He felt that this method would best express how widespread student dissatisfaction was.

“My friends helped me brainstorm a positive way to show that we aren’t okay with being left out of the Master Plan,” Fitzgibbon said. “[I was] just watching how the upperclassmen were being treated, and I couldn’t just sit back and watch something like this unfold in front of me without trying to do something to prevent it.”

With the help of other students, including junior biological psychology major Joseph Artoglou, the petition managed to circulate around campus, gathering over 75 signatures in just two days.

“As upper classmen, we feel disrespected… After the tuition increase, the construction, and the cancellation of Townhouse Day, the least Pace University could give back to us, the current students, would be access to the new dorms,” Artoglou said. “We feel that the faculty has no interest in our thoughts.”

Despite criticism, the administration says that it does make an active effort to listen to students when implementing large-scale projects like the Master Plan.

“As always, we welcome student feedback on all projects that we are working on.  It is our desire to incorporate student ideas and desires into future projects as we move forward,” Tirsch said.