Nearly a month after UCSB residential housing officials evicted eight students from the 1300 wing of Santa Cruz hall for alleged instances of disorderly conduct, most of the booted undergraduates have found new housing – and they’re loving it.

However, the students remaining in the hall said it is no longer the same without the departed.

Jonathan Langan, a first year computer science major, was one of the residents evicted from the residential hall on April 22. Langan said he and another evicted student found a new place to live at a house on the ocean side of Del Playa Drive. He said three other students found oceanside housing on Del Playa Drive, two others now reside in Goleta and one resident lives in Isla Vista. Langan said although the incident was troubling, he is in some ways happy with what happened because of his newfound freedom.

“In the dorms, its like a big slumber party, you have the [resident assistants] around [acting] like parents, but out here you feel free,” Langan said. “I can [almost] do want I want, when I want.”

Langan said Isla Vista residents were helpful during his housing search.

“The people out here are amazing and welcoming,” he said.

The UCSB Housing and Residential Services (HRS) served 17 residents in the all male 1300 wing of Santa Cruz Residence Hall with eviction notices on April 20. The university accused the residents of repeated consumption of alcohol in the residence halls, urinating and vomiting in the hallways, and destruction of the hall bathroom. HRS also said the 17 residents harassed resident assistants.

The accused residents appealed HRS’s charges on April 21, but the university rejected eight of the petitions. At least three of the residents who were denied an appeal said at that time that they had no other housing options.

One student, however, is still looking for a more permanent living situation. Steve Valentine, an undeclared first-year, said he is temporarily staying on couches at friends’ houses.

“There are worse places to bounce around than in Isla Vista,” Valentine said.

Cameron Snyder, one of the nine students spared from eviction, said two of the residents who were forced to leave the hall lived in a pick-up truck while they looked for a new home.

“I just hope that none of my friends get suspended from school,” Snyder said. “[UCSB administrators] proved their point with the evictions.”

Snyder, a first year psychology major, said many who still live on the 1300 wing remain friends with the evicted students.

“Buddies come over and we hang out all of the time,” said Langan, who said he is a friend of Snyder’s.

With the evicted undergraduates now living off-campus, some of the students still staying in Santa Cruz hall said the social atmosphere in 1300 wing is no longer the same. First-year biochemistry major Chris Mugler, another of the residents allowed to stay in the hall, said the wing is sometimes eerily quiet during the afternoons.

“[The rooms of evicted students are] just empty rooms you used to go in and now they’ve locked it up for the rest of the year,” Mugler said.

Chris Grabis, a first year business economics major who was allowed to stay in the hall, said a group of about 10 residents from the wing used to ride their bikes to the Carrillo dining commons.

“A lot of our friends are gone,” said Brandon McDonald, a first-year pre-biology major who is still living in Santa Cruz Hall. “Most of the people we interacted with are gone … It was sad the first day, but it worked out for everyone.”

Snyder said he recently joined the UCSB chapter of Sigma Chi and plans to live in the fraternity’s house next year.

“I don’t think I can live in the dorms again next year,” he said.

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