On October 11th, Anne (UVM ’81) and I (UVM ’82) visited UVM with our college bound daughter. On my visit, I read with interest Chase Soule’s article on residence housing which discussed an “eight tier system” of charging for housing based on “style of living” as well as number of occupants per unit. Cost-tiered housing is the last thing UVM needs. UVM is a university that has long struggled with “diversity.” I believe the one area in which UVM has always had diversity is within its residential dorms. There, the rural Vermonter with limited funds roomed with the wealthy out-of-stater. Each had lived very different lives. Yet, in the dorms, they shared those lives. All were enriched by the sharing and understanding of each other. Friendships formed. Marriages were made. UVM students learned to live with and get along with folks from all backgrounds and economic strata. Such diversity does not exist in most suburbs. When I was at UVM, it did not exist within the Greek system. The proposal to allow wealthier students to buy their way to housing others cannot afford at UVM will be bad policy for all. The economically disadvantaged will come to live together. The wealthy will live together. UVM will lose something special. In the “old” days, a lottery system was used. Some won; some lost. It was fair to all and promoted the fact that UVM was a place for all kinds to live and work together. This new policy would be a very bad, backward step for a university working so hard to move forward.