At Otterbein, there is a mix of residents who go home on the weekends, and residents that stay on campus.
According to the Office of Residence Life’s official Fall 2023 Resident Life Survey, 17.19% of students never leave campus. However, 39.84% of students that do leave, only leave once a month and 13.54% go home every weekend.
According to an anonymous survey, 65.6% of residents stay on campus and 34.4% go home. The majority of residents that do go home, only go home a few times a semester, matching up with Res Life’s survey.
While the majority of Otterbein residents stay on campus over the weekends, those that leave tend to leave for similar reasons. In the anonymous survey, 77.2% of students said they do not think there are enough activities on campus, resulting in many traveling home. Residents that do leave, expressed they would feel more inclined to stay on campus if there were more activities, better food and more facilities for laundry.
However, many students enjoy staying on campus whether it’s spending time with their friends or doing things on and around campus. First-year English major Skye Hamilton said “I like going to the library and then I also like going to the den for dinner cause it’s easy, and I like going to uptown."
Going home on the weekends can be beneficial and is good occasionally, but college is a time to gain independency and get used to taking care of yourself. Otterbein has many steps to take, such as more food options, weekend activities and better laundry services in order to get students to stay on campus.
