Despite RHA’s two-year battle for students to have the option to rent bed lofts, only 175 students took advantage of the opportunity when it was offered for the first time this semester.

“It is safe to say that the number for Maryland is lower than normal,” said Ryan Majeres, president of Collegiate Marketing.

Collegiate Marketing, which owns Bedloft.com, partnered with the university in mid-June to offer rental lofts to students in dorms, said Carol Brice, assistant director of facilities. But because students started moving in at the end of August, the company had a month and a half to advertise the new lofts, which led to low sales, Majeres said.

Only 55 students living in dorms pre-ordered the lofts – a number lower than the company anticipated, Brice said. Out of the 800 beds Collegiate Marketing made available on the campus Aug. 26 through Aug. 28, the company sold about 175 units, she said.

The Residence Halls Association was also pleased with the program, despite minimal sales.

“We are pleased with 60 pre-orders as opposed to zero,” said Michael LaBattaglia, president of RHA.

The group has been lobbying for the project for two years, but it was initially shot down because of security concerns, LaBattaglia said.

Originally, the facilities department banned loft beds in Old and New Leonardtown, existing triples and doubles in Carroll, Caroline and Wicomico because the rooms are so small, Brice said. The department worried first-year students who had never seen the size of their room would pre-order loft beds and find their rooms too small to accommodate the beds, she said. However, as students living in the restricted rooms starting asking for the lofts, facilities looked again at the issue.

“Those rooms originally identified as ineligible did appear to have the right room configuration to handle the bed lofts without obstructing the door or safety equipment,” Brice said. “We made the decision to offer all residents in previously ineligible rooms the option to rent bed lofts provided they were satisfied with the bed lofts. They needed to be cautious.”

While a small minority of students rented the lofts, those who have them are pleased with the result.

“It’s so nice,” said sophomore biology major Emily Dodd. “This room is approximately the size of my closet at home. [With the lofts], it’s like not having a bed at all.”

And even though the number of bed lofts sold was less than expected, Majeres is looking forward to a relationship with the university in the future. He said they are considering making loft beds available to students throughout the semester, with the price reflecting the amount of time students will be renting the loft.

“We would like to give students every opportunity to rent lofts if they would like them,” Majeres said.

Collegiate Marketing’s contract with the university is only for one year, and facilities will evaluate the students’ experience with the lofts and the company’s employees to decide if it will extend the contract, Brice said.

Contact reporter Kaitlyn Seith at seithdbk@gmail.com.