Studying during finals doesn’t need to be more of a nightmare than it already is.

If students want a quiet spot on Foggy Bottom, they have to sit in the aging and sterile Gelman Library. That is, if they can even find a spot in the overcrowded study space. And if there is no space in Gelman, students are often hard-pressed to find another comfortable and quiet place on campus to study.

There has been a breakdown between when construction start times on campus and when the University pledged exceptionally noisy construction would start, according to a survey conducted by the Residence Hall Association. While this survey was non-scientific, it points to the fact that students are unhappy with the state of on-campus construction.

Students are here to learn and studying should come before campus expansion for the next three weeks. Even though it is the students’ word against the University’s, administrators should accept that students are bothered by the noise and this will only get worse during finals.

The GW Residence Hall Association has taken laudable efforts throughout the year to ensure that while the construction persists on campus it does not come at the detriment to student productivity today. RHA conducted the survey and organized a petition, which garnered more than 500 signatures, appealing to the University to “uphold its commitment.” Their advocacy work throughout the year is necessary to holding the University’s pledges accountable.

No one is asking for the construction to come to a halt, and the outcome of the campus construction will undoubtedly be beneficial. But we won’t see those results for a long time, and they should not come at the cost of student performance today.