By Sarah Carlson, Arts Editor

Spiritual Life Assistants will be absent from residence halls next year to make room for the large numbers of students living on campus, said Dr. Mimi Barnard, director of Residence Life Education and Housing.

Barnard said the decision of removing SLAs is not permanent but is rather seen as a hiatus for the position.

“The No. 1 issue was space,” Barnard said. “We are busting at the seams in Residence Life and Housing, and we can’t really put the RAs on hiatus.”

The number of RAs will increase next year with the addition of Barret Hall, which will open to house sophomore women in the fall.

Barnard said the choice to remove SLAs had to be made when considering national trends of students coming to college. She said that according to national demographics, the pressure of a large number of students living on campus will likely continue through 2008.

Mark Lewis, director of Spiritual Life and Student Ministries and adviser of the Spiritual Life Core, said he and members of the Spiritual Life Core have discussed options of working with the residence halls beginning next year. He said they are only in the early stages of dialogue and no plans have been made, but possible areas the Spiritual Life Core could aid would be in coordinating Bible studies and prayer groups, as well as getting to know the residents.

“We want to move patiently and cautiously with this,” Lewis said, “because it isn’t about competing with what [the RAs] are doing but helping and assisting them.”

Lewis said it is hard to gauge the level of influence SLAs have had in residence halls aside from them coordinating prayers groups, etc. He said much of the work lies behind the scenes in that they are a constant presence in the halls, being available to talk with and listen to the residents.

“In those five-minute conversations, some amazing things can take place,” Lewis said.

The Spiritual Life Core is looking at having upperclassmen help in the halls, Lewis said, because of their wisdom and experience.

“What I would love to see is it be primarily upperclassmen who love students, listen to them and be a resource for them,” he said. “That is such a powerful work.”

Barnard said removing the SLAs is difficult because of the important role they play in residence life.

“These are unique servant leaders who love the Lord and love their peers,” Barnard said. “They have made a tremendous contribution to Residence Life and Housing. I wish they weren’t going on hiatus, but we’ll just take it one year at a time.”