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BYU Off-Campus Housing hosts fair today

BYU Off-Campus Housing is hosting a housing fair in the Wilkinson Garden Court until 4 p.m. today. The fair boasts a large variety of off-campus housing options for students looking for housing for next year.

Many apartment complexes surrounding campus are represented at the fair. With so many different living options available, the process can seem a bit daunting. However, the fair is designed to help students find exactly what they are looking for. Among the most popular choices for students are Liberty Square, The Riviera, Alpine Village and The Elms.

Each complex represented is given a booth that offers brochures about their housing and will answer any questions students may have. Some booths go above and beyond with their displays and brochures. The Elms will offer pink frosted sugar cookies while The Colony is giving away monogrammed water bottles. Although many booths were decorated nicely, one specifically was drawing attention.

The Branbury complex had their representatives dressed in bridal veils. According to Branbury representative Marissa Prisbrey, a senior from Delaware, the veils signify the complex's trademark: the marriage guarantee.

'This is very unique,' Prisbrey said. 'Whenever someone is in a year-round contract and get married after those six months, they give us a 30-day written notice, a copy of their marriage certificate and they're done.'

The housing fair is also convenient for freshmen students looking for off-campus housing for the first time. Susan Taylor, a freshman nutrition science major from Fort Worth, Texas, and her roommate Kate Sorensen, a freshman biophysics major from Austin, Texas, are looking for just that.

Taylor and Sorenson, who are currently living together at Chipman Hall in Helaman Halls, heard about the fair from their R.A. Though they have enjoyed living at the dorms and the closeness they felt with the students there, they are looking forward to something new. The one important factor they appreciated at the dorms and are currently looking for in off-campus housing is proximity to campus.

BYU's off-campus housing is unique in that all students must live in BYU-contracted residences, which support the Honor Code. According to Garry Briggs, manager of Off-Campus Housing, the process to become BYU contracted is lengthy. The university simply wants the best for the students and hopes students appreciate the effort put forth to make sure they get it.

Briggs also explains the importance of students abiding by the Honor Code while living off-campus.

'We hope that they recognize that as they sign those rental agreements off-campus, they are agreeing to abide by the residential living standards which incorporate the Honor Code,' Briggs said. 'We rely on their integrity, their character, to abide by what they agreed to.'