Under the Button is part of a student-run nonprofit.

Please support us by disabling your ad blocker on our site.

OP-ED: They Should Replace the Quad With 1,500 Individual Tiny Homes

img-0071

Photo from Margarita Matta / The Daily Pennsylvanian

Everyone knows that the Quad is a key part of many students’ freshman experience, but why? Why do I have to suffer through a communal bathroom where I have seen not one but THREE different people have full frontal towel slips? Why do I have to live in a mold-infested shoe box that multiple squirrels have tried to break into?

I am not alone in these sentiments, and it seems that there is only one reasonable conclusion that can be attained. The Quadrangle must be replaced with 1,500 tiny homes. This is the new Freshman experience.

Tiny homes have become all the rage, and with the billions of dollars usually meant for whatever new Wharton building is being constructed, we should instead allot this money to create a new hub for incoming students. These tiny homes can be fully equipped for single living students, and gives them the opportunity to excel in their social and academic lives.

The homes will feature many necessary additions that any Penn student might need on a regular basis, including a bucket of water for showering, a multipurpose twin bed/urinal/bidet/toilet/wood-burning pizza oven combo, and of course a sink. Furthermore, students will now have the freedom to express themselves by choosing a variety of home styles -- the traditional tiny home structure, an airstream, and even a wide selection of RVs. 

The Quad, although beautiful in architecture and a living embodiment of the historical significance of Penn, is fucking old. It needs to be replaced with something new, something fresh, and that something is the 1,500 tiny homes I am advocating for in this article

To the Penn housing services, I strongly urge you to take this proposal into consideration. Frankly, it is appalling that the disregard for students and their well being was not addressed earlier. Tiny homes are the only way we can move forward as a community, and I hope this notion is not taken lightly.

PennConnects