It’s been about two years since student leaders took to living in tents on McKeldin Mall to protest the dire housing situation on the campus. To the average onlooker, it would seem that the student housing landscape has since improved. Private developers seem to be tripping over themselves in proposing new projects; the University View expansion, Starview Plaza, The Varsity, Mazza Grandmarc apartments and Northgate Condominiums are all expected to be completed within the next two years. The university, for its part, has not only started construction on South Campus Commons 7, but has also won funding for the new Oakland Hall, a new high-rise in the Denton Community. Will we finally see the end of the housing crisis?
Absolutely not.
The housing crisis continues to force students from their homes. Students and their families continue to be burdened with the exorbitant rents of off-campus housing. The Department of Resident Life may have inspired some false confidence when they exhausted the waitlist trying to fill vacancies for the spring semester, but hundreds of sophomores, juniors and seniors will soon make the annual exodus from the campus. They will find themselves facing the challenges of locating safe, affordable and accessible housing in the surrounding communities.
The tragedy of the housing crisis goes beyond the fact that the university failed to properly address a burgeoning housing problem for years. The campus community is being irrevocably altered. Despite not making an iota of improvement to the housing crunch, the university has reduced the equality of access to Commons and University Courtyards by restricting roommate selection and pull-ins based on class year, effectively ignoring the plight of students who take more than four years to graduate.
I do not fault Deb Grandner or the rest of Resident Life for making these decisions. Instead, I feel student leaders have failed to change the antiquated Housing Commitments Policy. The policy, created by the Residence Hall Association in 2000, established the order in which available spaces are allocated to students. However, more students than ever now want to live on the campus and enjoy all aspects of the college experience that the university has to offer. The university has transformed itself from a predominantly commuter school to a genuine college community where students seek to live closer to the campus. But therein lies the principal question: What kind of on-campus community do we want?
Rather than using a 10-year policy as a shield from criticism and to rationalize poor choices, student leaders and Resident Life should begin to reexamine how we allocate housing. Should the university continue to blindly cater to second-year students at the expense of everyone else? Since university housing is the most affordable, should preference be given to those with low and median incomes? Can the university extend the Maryland experience to transfer students – particularly those from community colleges?
Student Government Association and RHA leaders can no longer sit idly by and hope that new housing construction will allow them to ignore the continuing effects of the housing crisis. Rather than continue an outdated status quo, student leaders should begin a conversation on crafting a new Housing Commitment Policy that reflects the campus community Maryland deserves.
Matthew Verghese is a graduate student in public policy. He can be reached at mmverg@gmail.com.
