The High-Rise, High-Profile Option
On campus: StuVi2’s views rule, but it’s still group living
Get the Flash Player to see this media.
In the video above, Brianna Healy (COM’12) discusses life in StuVi2, from the 17th-story view to sharing space with seven suite-mates.
At the start of the fall semester, Brianna Healy was one of 960 students who hauled suitcases, TVs, and rack raisers into BU’s brand-new residence hall at 33 Harry Agganis Way.
StuVi2, as it quickly became known, is a talking point, a jewel in the crown of BU’s campus, and a towering symbol for a city with a love-hate relationship with its expanding universities. The physical structure, all 26 stories, makes a statement: one can see in it a message of sustainability, aesthetic beauty, over-the-top luxury, or simply the Next Big Thing in undergraduate life. The Boston Globe described the building as “perhaps the most opulent residence hall to ever grace the local college landscape.”
StuVi2 is many things, but to Healy, it is home.
“Originally I was really scared to put anything on the walls,” Healy (COM’12) says of breaking in her 17th-floor living space. “But you get over it pretty quickly.”
Now she’s settled into her newfound community and plans to stay in the building for another year — a plan the Office of Housing is happy to hear.
“We wanted to create a dynamic community west of the BU Bridge,” says Marc Robillard, director of housing. “We always had Claflin, Rich, and Sleeper, but we didn’t have anything to attract juniors and seniors.”
Healy and her roommate lucked into a spot in StuVi2 after swapping out of Warren Towers over the summer. Her room costs $9,250 this year, plus a mandatory meal plan that starts at $4,138, bringing the total to $13,388. A student in a typical double pays $11,848. Her suite-mates with singles pay $10,590 apiece and also must purchase meal plans.
“Students are willing to pay a little more money if they’re able to have an apartment, a single room in an apartment, and be close to activities on campus,” Robillard says. “And we’ve done that.”
When deciding where to live, Healy says, “I didn’t let money be an issue. I know that I’ll never be able to live in a place like this again wanting to have a photography career, unless I get a big gig with Rolling Stone or something crazy.”
She enjoys perks like air-conditioning and a walk-in closet, she says, but she’s more appreciative of the basics — a clean, spacious room, the building’s friendly staff, and 24-hour security.
“I’m from a small town,” says the New Hampshire native, “so living in the city can be kind of overwhelming, even now when I’ve been here for two years.”
Of course, the 180-degree view of the skyline doesn’t hurt.
Katie Koch can be reached at katieleekoch@gmail.com; follow her on Twitter at @katieleekoch. Nicolae Ciorogan can be reached at ciorogan@bu.edu.
More perspectives on the ins and outs of living on campus.
Comments & Discussion
Boston University moderates comments to facilitate an informed, substantive, civil conversation. Abusive, profane, self-promotional, misleading, incoherent or off-topic comments will be rejected. Moderators are staffed during regular business hours (EST) and can only accept comments written in English. Statistics or facts must include a citation or a link to the citation.