The Douthit Hills complex is the most modern building that Clemson has to offer, with accommodations and amenities around every nook and cranny. The complex offers residential apartments, a new campus bookstore, restaurants, a dining hall and a fully-fledged workout facility. The complex cost over 200 million dollars to build, easily the largest single construction project in the history of the university.

I hate it.

Before I tell you why I hate it, I wanted to first get out of the way that yes, I do acknowledge how insanely nice and borderline luxurious the complex is. The fact that Clemson would spend such an outrageous amount of money on something for the betterment of the student body does not go overlooked or underappreciated. And I think that if the university is truly committed to providing the most accommodating and memorable student experience possible, they should not only accept, but actively search for benevolent criticism.

First of all, I can’t get over how far away Douthit is from nearly everything else “on-campus.” I put those words in quotations because it doesn’t even feel right to call something “campus” that’s on the same side of Highway 93 as downtown. 

I honestly feel bad for the people that live in Douthit because of how far it is from the buildings that normally hold classes. As the crow flies, Douthit is nearly a half-mile away from Cooper Library, but, of course, only people (and a Shrek) attend Clemson, so expect to easily surpass the mile mark on foot during your commute to and from class.

You might now be saying to yourself; there are plenty of other “near campus” living options, though, so why is it such a big deal that Douthit is out of the way? 

Astute observation, reader. It really wouldn’t be that big of a deal if the university hadn’t made the inexplicable decision to move the entire Barnes & Noble bookstore from the Hendrix Student Center to Douthit.

Now, at the beginning of every semester, thousands of Clemson students have to walk an obscene distance to buy textbooks. And why do they have to walk so far? Because non-residential parking at Douthit consists of less than 50 metered parking spots that students then have to pay for.

The rates for a metered parking spot are in no way outrageous, but the principle of making students (who pay money to go to Clemson) who are looking to buy their textbooks (which cost an ungodly amount of money) pay even more money just to park is unfair. And dammit, I’m a man of principle.

For a school that is constantly being berated by students for the lack of reasonable parking options, Clemson sure has a funny way of addressing the issue. The nearest commuter lot to Douthit is the C-01 parking lot, which is easily over a half-mile away.

The absurdity of moving the bookstore is highlighted by the fact that the space that used to house the old bookstore in Hendrix is currently completely unused and seems to have no clear future use.

The unconscionable decision to move the bookstore to Douthit is apparent to those who know the history of the complex. Douthit Hills was originally built to house students admitted into the Clemson Bridge Program in order to give them an experience that was closer to campus and more reflective of the genuine Clemson experience than was previously provided.

Once Clemson students began to learn exactly how nice Douthit was going to be, though, the university backpedaled and announced that Bridge students would instead be housed in the adjacent residential buildings, giving all Clemson students access to Douthit and its facilities.

As a result, the university had an entire bookstore, once likely meant to accommodate books and supplies required by Bridge students, in need of a new purpose. Easy solution? Move the bookstore from a perfectly accessible and heavily trafficked area of campus to the new building half a mile away.

In addition, the complex also necessitated the construction of some comically large speed bumps (because you know Clemson loves itself some speed bumps) at the intersection of Highway 93 and Cherry Road.

And just for yucks, I’d like to mention Douthit’s “wading pool”. As anyone knows, nearly every facility that offers housing around Clemson also has a pool for those hot summer days. And because Douthit wanted to be able to advertise a pool without the safety risks associated with water above one’s knees, they installed an 18-inch deep “pool.”

To finish, I want to reiterate that I am not unappreciative of just how modern and impressive Douthit is. It provides Clemson an incredible number of new restaurants, facilities and housing opportunities in the effort of improving the student experience, and for that, I am grateful. But as a proud alum of the Bridge Program and as a proud Clemson Tiger, I feel that it is my responsibility, nay, my duty to point out the flaws and consequences of Douthit Hills.