Responding to housing complications over the summer, students have expressed concerns over how the larger freshman class this year will affect their day-to-day lives.
Carly Abbot, a freshman from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, said she did not realize how large the 2028 freshman class was until convocation.
JJ White, from Wheeling, West Virginia, said he was proud to be part of such a large freshman class. He also said the events of Week of Welcome never felt overcrowded.
Freshman Braxton Oldaker, from Chesapeake, Ohio, said he thought the university was adapting to the larger class. He said the only event that was impacted during WOW was the class photo due to rain.
“I don’t really have an opinion on class size, like to compare it to,” Oldaker said. “The university seems to be handling it very well, and class coordinators seem to do good as well.”
Freshman Alyssa Johnson, meanwhile, disagreed and said some events did feel overpacked. She said she felt overwhelmed during WOW because of the large class size.
“Week of Welcome was really overwhelming with somebody who has social anxiety because there was just an awful lot of people,” she said.
Several students, from freshmen to upperclassmen, pointed out the line for Chick-fil-A as a sign of overcrowding.
Sophomore Bryson Morris said the line for Chick-fil-A had always been packed throughout the day; however, it feels more consistently crowded this year. While his schedule has kept him from being negatively impacted, he said he still finds the wait frustrating.
“It was packed last year, but it seems like it’s always packed now,” Morris said. “I’m done by 1 p.m. every day. So, I can just, you know, come here whenever, but every single time I come here, it’s always back. And it’s just basically standing in line for a really long time.”
Alan Taylor, a freshman, said he noticed how much longer the lines were with every student on campus. “I feel a little more claustrophobic because there’s a lot more people in the lines and so forth, especially in, like, hallways,” Taylor said. “The line today was extreme.”
Johnson said she turned to waiting in her dorms for when the lines shorten.
“As soon as you get out of class, you might as well just wait an hour before you decide to get food,” Johnson said. “Because that’s about what your wait’s going to be in a line standing here.”
In the five semesters junior Adam Lester has attended at Marshall, he said he knew to always expect the lines for Chick-fil-A and La Famiglia to be long. He said, although the campus is more packed this year, it is nice to see more students out and about.
“I think campus is definitely feeling a little more packed this year,” Lester said. “Just all around, like I’m noticing more people out and about, which is cool.”
Lester said he knows the lines will shorten as the semester continues, but he believes offering students more dining options would help solve the issue.
“There isn’t much you can do other than add more options and more varieties, so that way, people spread out more,” Lester said.
