Brigham Young University. Student Housing

The Residential Housing Office is a division of the Brigham Young University Housing Office, created in May 1953. It has been responsible for providing information and services related to off-campus housing for students. It has also certified BYU-approved housing, trained landlords and apartment managers, mediated student-landlord disputes, managed the University Homes, and helped maintain BYU standards.

Since the foundation of Brigham Young University students have sought out off-campus living accommodations. During the Maeser Administration, such arrangements were supervised by the Domestic Department. By the early 1920s, lists of approved off-campus housing had been developed and were available for arriving students. A faculty housing committee was also established to periodically inspect housing facilities.

An important aspect of the approved housing system was the need felt by the University to maintain certain standards. In the 1937 “Standards and Rules Governing Student Conduct at BYU,” it is noted that a Housing Committee was responsible for approving all housing arrangements. It also included provisions requiring landlords “to report violations of these rules or any improper conduct on the part of the students to the chairman of the Attendance and Scholarship Committee.”

At the time of the 1937 rules of conduct, nearly eighty percent of students lived in either apartments or private homes. This led succeeding University administrations to support the construction of on-campus housing projects, though the majority of the student population continued to live off-campus. By the fall of 1955 over sixty percent of students lived off-campus accommodations.

Then in May 1953, responsibility for both on-campus and off-campus housing was transferred from the Dean of Students to the newly created Housing Office, established as part of Auxiliary Services. Fred A. Schwendiman was appointed as the first housing director, with Rulon Craven as his assistant. Shortly after its creation, a student assistant named Clarence Fields was charged with the development of a listing service for off-campus housing.

In 1954, Rulon Craven was selected to be Coordinator of Residential Housing. He was replaced in September 1962 by Delyle Barton. During his term off-campus housing more than doubled and various programs were developed, including off-campus housing status, landlord rental contracts, student rental contracts, living standards, minimum apartment requirements, and student/landlord arbitration. Following Barton’s promotion to Housing Director in 1970, the renamed position of Manager of Residential Housing was filled by Harold Redd (1970-1974), Lamon Oviatt (1974-1979), Curtis Wynder (1979-1981), and John Pace (1981-).

Published works with information about the Residential Housing Office include: Wilkinson, Ernest, ed. Brigham Young University: the first one hundred years. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 1975. Barrett, Bruce A. and Ginger S. Woodruff. Brigham Young University Housing through the Years. Orem, UT: BAB Publishing, 1994.

From the guide to the Residential Housing Office records, 1956-1983, (L. Tom Perry Special Collections)