Collegiate Times

Architecture student Jay Osborne shows his sleeping bag he used to sleep outside.

Fifth-year architecture student Jay Osborne ventured to San Francisco last summer toting a design portfolio and optimism.

“I’m fascinated by the entire West Coast,” he said, “but San Francisco seems like the hub of my interest — the people and the atmosphere.”

Internship opportunities didn’t surface, however, but Osborne chose to stay and live on in a rather nomadic lifestyle.

With neither income nor consistent shelter, he indulged in the luxury of hostels infrequently, mostly calling a sleeping bag his dwelling. Its fusion with a bivouac sack, or waterproof shell, was his only defense against the elements.

“I could have slept in a homeless person’s park,” Osborne said, “but I preferred to sleep up in the Berkeley Hills. It’s just beautiful land over there.”

Occupied exploring the Bay Area, Osborne said he neglected to conduct apartment searches for the fall semester in Blacksburg.

Upon his East Coast return, affordable housing appeared a unique commodity, and his funds weren’t vast.

“At that time it seemed like it was impossible to ... take out a low-interest loan,” he said.

So Osborne did what had become familiar, utilizing the outdoors whose price tag wasn’t discouraging. He often occupied the porch of an aging house next to the Duck Pond.

“The best part was that I could actually sleep on the edge of the porch and look out to the stars,” he said. “It’s actually very calming when it’s raining.”

Wildlife didn’t hassle him, either.

“I think I had a squirrel on me one night, but that was it,” Osborne said, laughing.

When weather was favorable, Osborne said he also sprawled out on ground adjacent to the cross-country trail near Smithfield Plantation. Forgoing larger equipment such as a tent, Osborne didn’t have to worry about storage.

“Because everything is so compact, I can keep it in (architecture) studio,” he said. “I could be somewhat inconspicuous. I think that’s a big deal if you’re homeless and not so proud of it.”

Alongside the studio, Osborne rented a locker at a campus gym where he showered and kept clothes.

Osborne retreated indoors once seasons turned and temperatures dipped.

Burchard Hall hosts architecture students who often work late into the evening and occasionally, the early morning. Osborne made a habit of the latter.

“There was one janitor who was quite nice,” he said. “She would basically wake me up at five o’clock every morning.”

Considering the apparent success of Osborne’s vagabond lifestyle, a curiosity arises as to its feasibility for other frugal students. Is camping out to avoid hundreds or thousands of dollars in rentsupported on the Tech campus or in greater Blacksburg really possible?

University policy 5406 addresses temporary structures such as tents. Its details are geared more toward large-scale shelters like those with 900 square feet or 50 occupants, but the code does require registration of any tent with the Environmental and Safety Services seven days in advance of its setup. 

Vice President of Student Affairs Ed Spencer said individuals likely wouldn’t receive permission for extended stays on campus terrain.

“I think the policy on tents and so forth only provides for a temporary event ... overnight,” he said. “I think there probably would be a lot of concerns from a security standpoint and from use of facilities and damage of facilities if something was more than that.”

Though the option of extended on-campus camping may be out, nearby are expanses much greater than the Drillfield or Henderson Lawn.

Director of Blacksburg Parks and Recreation Dean Crane said there are 400 acres of parks within the town and another 100 beyond. That’s more than 350 football fields of landscape, which is more than ample to host a well-intentioned wanderer. However, Crane said overnight durations aren’t acceptable.

“We do not allow activities after dark in the park without a kind of a permit,” he said. “(Such as) if a school group wanted to go star gazing or something like that.”

That kind of permit involves Crane’s verbal consent, often accompanied by written approval, and the verification of the Blacksburg Police Department which surveys the property. Crane rejected the idea of any longer-term student residency contracts.

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