Students leave colleges. It’s a fact of life. Each semester, UT copes with students dropping out or transferring – not to mention the dorm vacancies they leave behind. Vaughn Hall alone is dotted with vacancies. In some cases, there are more than four empty beds on one side of a floor.

With Ashley Plaza being an added expense and far removed from the main UT campus, it would seem prudent for the University to transfer students into the openings, even as UT students in Ashley assaulted waiting lists . Yet this is not at all the case.

Students living at the hotel receive all the same amenities as those actually living on campus, along with free shuttles to and from campus.

“I like living in Ashley,” said Tashima Johnson. “The beds aren’t small and uncomfortable. I wish the bus would come more often, though.”

Thus, empty spaces stay empty — even those that have remained open since shortly after the beginning of the spring semester.

Students, for the most part, have reacted optimistically. Now used to dealing with distance, many Ashley residents find that the real hassle would be moving their belongings to a room where they’d only be staying for a month anyway.

When contacted, ResLife declined to comment on the issue.