Out with the old, in with the used

Coming to campus at the end of this semester is the first ever Residence Hall Rollover Program. This student-designed and student-implemented program allows students to donate their used microwaves, mini fridges and other college appliances for the incoming freshman. The appliances will be stored and sold once the school year starts over again. For students moving out of the dorms, this is a burden lifted from their hands and a blessing for the incoming students who don’t have any cooking or household items.

Brainstormed by the minds of Honors students in a design class, the idea has evolved into reality over the course of the semester. Andrew Doughty and Lizzy Thompson, two juniors on a five-member squad responsible for this logistical design problem recognized the shared experience of moving off campus with unnecessary amounts of microwaves and mini fridges. Thompson, the outgoing ASMSU Vice President, was pleased to support the project since students had appealed to her before in hopes that an initiative like this could be implemented.

The team started off by gauging the student body to see if the problem was shared by as many as they assumed. In this search they connected with Connor Mulvaney, an ASMSU senator for the College of Education, Health and Human Development, who has been trying to start this program. In the past, the idea was passed around, yet never accomplished. The closest concept on campus is the swap tables placed in residence halls as a communal exchange of unwanted goods near the end of the semester.

Doughty highlighted that the challenging part is “making sure we are balancing the needs of everyone at MSU and still focussing on the most important people, the students.” Doughty and Thompson are most excited to see how the program will expand after this initial run, imagining something even better in the future.

The Residence Hall Rollover Program will take place May 2 – 4, the Thursday, Friday and Saturday of finals week. Collections of cleaned appliances will be accepted outside of Roskie and Yellowstone, and at Residence Hall Swap Tables from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. on Saturday. All who donate will be entered into a raffle to win great prizes such as a Spire Climbing Center gift card, a Pickle Barrel gift card and a Black Diamond backpack. Check out msusale.com to see the inventory of appliances for purchase at the Sustainability Savings Sale during move in week next semester. Any and all MSU students are invited to participate in donations and deals of this exciting new campus tradition.