McFaddin Hall will not be included in the Fall Housing Selection Process for the 2026-2027 academic year due to upcoming construction on the building, according to a statement sent to The Sun from Cornell Housing and Residential Life.
The West Campus Gothic building will undergo “significant external construction” expected to begin this upcoming summer and extend “well into” the Fall 2026 semester, wrote Perdita Das, assistant dean of Hans Bethe House, in a Sept. 18 email to current Hans Bethe House and McFaddin Hall residents.
Main building Hans Bethe House and its paired Gothic building, McFaddin Hall, comprise an established residential community on West Campus that traditionally houses over 350 transfer and upper-level students. McFaddin Hall typically accommodates approximately 60 of the community’s residents.
The University’s class of 2029 is the largest class in Cornell’s history with 5,824 admitted students and 3,861 enrolling. In a prior statement to The Sun, HRL wrote that it has moved student housing around and renovated new locations for student housing amid rising class sizes.
In previous years, there have been complaints from students placed into forced triples — rooms meant to house two students that instead house three.
Beginning last spring, “[HRL] relocated students to South and West campus locations, creating additional space for incoming first-year students on North Campus,” HRL had written.
When The Sun asked about the impact of McFaddin’s closing on housing crowding in the next academic year, HRL did not provide a response in its statement to The Sun.
The Fall Housing Selection Process for the 2026-2027 academic year will span Oct. 2 to Oct. 8 for rising juniors and seniors, while selection for rising sophomores will take place this upcoming spring.
During the Same Area selection process, where students on West Campus can select a room in the same building they currently live in, current McFaddin Hall residents will be able to select a room in main building Hans Bethe House, according to Das.
“If you were hoping to remain in McFaddin, I strongly encourage you to select a room in Bethe-Main during your timeslot if one is available,” Das wrote. “Once McFaddin reopens, I will do my best to work with the Housing Office to explore the possibility of relocating you back, should you wish to do so.”
HRL currently awaits information about the extent of the construction in order to make a decision on the building’s reopening, according to its statement.
It is possible that the Gothic at the bottom of the Slope may be included in the Spring Housing Selection Process for the 2026-2027 academic year, HRL wrote, as it “continues to evaluate options, feasibility, and scope of impact” of the construction.
Varsha Bhargava is a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board and can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
