The fee to have guests stay in a residence hall room during Halloween weekend increased $15 this year.
The best things in life may be free, but not when it comes to having a guest for Halloween in Athens.
The cost to have a guest stay in a dorm room during Halloween weekend has increased from $35 last year to $50 for this year, Pete Trentacoste, Ohio University's executive director of Housing and Residence Life, said in an email.
“The fee has not been increased since 2012 and expenses were exceeding the revenues generated by Halloween Guest registration,” Trentacoste said in an email.
In 2012, OU raised the fee from $25 to $35, which was the first time the university had increased the cost to stay on campus in four years, according to a previous Post report. The new 2015 rate is double what guests paid in 2011 for the Halloween weekend.
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The fee for having guests stay in the residence halls is used to fund Alcohol.edu for students and offsetting the cost of managing Halloween, Trentacoste said in an email.
In past years, the university had extra staff members on duty for much of the weekend in the residence halls watching doors to make sure no one sneaks in, according to a previous Post report.
Caleb Jacobs, a sophomore studying biological science, was inspired to start a petition against the increased fee upon hearing about the $50 charge from his resident assistant.
He said last year’s fee of $35 was “pushing the limit.”
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“Any other time of time of the year they don’t charge us to have guests in our room and we are already paying thousands of dollars to stay in the dorms,’” Jacobs said.
Jacobs plans on having at least one friend come down for Halloween, but he doesn't "know if they are going to be able to now because of the increased fee.”
“They are driving already two hours to come down here to have a good time, not including paying for gas money, food and everything else and they have to pay $50,” Jacobs said. “It’s like a hotel or something.”
Trentacoste said via email that the university only charges for guests who check in to the residence halls on Halloween weekend, which is normally about 80 percent of registered guests.
Jacobs said he is considering taking his petition to Housing and Residence Life and saying ‘look this is not fair and a lot of people agree.’
His petition, launched Monday night, had nearly 150 signatures as of press time.
Jordyn White, an undecided freshman, heard about the increased fee from a friend, which prompted her to talk to her RA about it.
“(My RA) said they upped it because they have to pay the RAs because they are on duty 24 hours throughout the whole entire weekend,” White said.
She said her sister plans on staying with her in Athens for Halloween.
“I think (the increased fee is) kind of ridiculous, but then again I understand why they are doing it and probably for the safety of the students because I know the population in Athens increases,” White said.
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