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The Cornell cottage on Monroe Street near Mary Washington College's Sunken Road gate. MWC's Web site says it provides a 'temporary residence for visiting professors and guests of the college.' |
Mary Washington College officials say special circumstances led them to allow state Sen. Edd Houck's daughter to live this semester in a school-owned house usually reserved for important guests.
Greta Houck, who has a physical disability, is living alone in the college-owned Cornell House, even though she does not meet the usual course requirements for on-campus housing and students are rarely allowed to use the cottage. She declined comment for this story.
Both MWC Presi-dent William M. Anderson Jr. and Sen. Houck, who sits on a legislative committee that controls state funding for universities and colleges, said the special housing arrangement was not a political favor.
The president said he made the accommodation for Greta Houck, 22, because of her disability, adding that he often makes exceptions for disabled students.
"We're not doing it because she's the senator's daughter, I can guarantee you that. We're doing it because that's why we're here," said Anderson, whose left leg and arm are still impaired from a 1996 brain aneurysm.
Neither he nor Sen. Houck would say what Greta Houck's disability is.
"I can assure you that there's no preferential treatment going on," said Houck, a Democrat from Spotsylvania County who has served in the Senate since 1983. "Doctor Anderson made all these arrangements with my daughter, who is an adult. I'm not responsible for what is occurring."
Ranny Corbin, Anderson's executive assistant, said the president's office has made exceptions for at least 50 students over the past five years for various reasons. She declined to provide details, citing concerns about privacy, but said that only a few of those students had disabilities.
"Usually, students with disabilities go through the office for disabled students. They don't come here first," she said.
The 1,000-square-foot Cornell cottage on Monroe Street, near the college's Sunken Road gate, has a bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen, 11/2 bathrooms and a patio. According to the college's Web site, it "provides a temporary residence for visiting professors and guests of the college."
MWC Residence Life Director Christine Porter said her office has not placed students in Cornell House during her five years at the college.
But college spokeswoman Margaret Mock said another student lived in Cornell House over the summer. She said the student, who was not enrolled in summer classes, was not charged for the housing because he was participating in the college's summer leadership program.
All other students participating in the leadership program take summer classes and are permitted to live in residence halls without charge, she said. The student living in Cornell was not taking classes due to an internship in Washington, but was allowed to live in Cornell House free because of his participation in the leadership program, Mock said.
She said he wasn't put in a residence hall because students must be taking classes to live there, even during the summer.
Corbin said she didn't know of any students, other than the one this summer, who were housed in Cornell. But she said Anderson often uses his position to help students in difficult situations.
"I can almost guarantee you if this child had walked in and had an audience with President Anderson and her name were not Houck, his heart would have gone out to her. I see that all the time," she said.
Greta Houck moved in at the start of the school year in late August, according to Anderson. Her tuition, meal plan and other fees were paid in September.
Anderson said the transfer student is enrolled in one three-credit class at the college--not enough to give her full-time-student status, which is usually required for on-campus housing.
Stephanie Smith, MWC's director of disability services, said disabled students often are allowed to reduce their course load to nine credits and still live on campus. She said it's rare for any on-campus student to take fewer than nine credits, but added that it would be permitted in special circumstances.
Anderson said he met with Greta Houck after her father asked him this summer about the possibility of enrolling his daughter in a class at MWC.
Because of her late enrollment, a single-floor room with a private bathroom--needed to accommodate her disability--was not available in any of the residence halls at the college, Mock said.
Rick Hurley, MWC's executive vice president and chief financial officer, said Greta Houck was being charged the college's highest housing rate--$2,040 per semester, the same fee charged to a student occupying a single bedroom in a campus apartment shared with other students.
Her housing bill was mailed Oct. 1 and is due at the end of the month, Hurley said.
He said Greta Houck's housing bill "sat on a desk" until The Free Lance-Star inquired about it. Hurley said the newspaper's questions reminded him to get it processed.
Hurley said part of the reason for the delay in billing was the unique housing arrangement.
"It's not unusual that we have odd billing cycles because we deal with so many different situations. To us, this is just another one of those unusual situations," he said.
Houck represents the counties of Culpeper, Louisa, Madison and Orange and parts of Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania County. He serves on the Senate's finance committee, its education and health committee and a joint legislative subcommittee on higher-education funding policies.
According to campaign finance reports, Anderson gave $500 in August to Houck's campaign for re-election. As of Aug. 31, Houck was the only candidate to whom Anderson had made a donation.
Disability-services director Smith was unable to provide current numbers of students with disabilities enrolled at the college. Her records showed that 253 disabled students attended MWC and the college's James Monroe Center in the fall of 2002. Of those, 102 had health impairments and 11 had mobility impairments.
Seventy-one students received special housing accommodations in 2002, including central air conditioning, first-floor rooms, single rooms and single rooms with private baths. All of them lived in residence halls.
According to the college's Web site, May 22 is the deadline for new or transfer students with disabilities to apply for special housing accommodations.
Corbin said Anderson, in a speech during summer preview sessions, encourages new students to come to him directly with problems. She said because the college is small, rules are often broken to accommodate special needs.
"We have rules because we have to," she said, "but we're not rigid."
To reach BETH WATERS HUNLEY: 368-5028 bhunley@freelancestar.com
