SGA President Emma Simson told the Board of Regents on Friday it was time to act to end an ongoing on-campus housing crisis and said students are suffering as officials argue over solutions.
Dressed in a two-piece black suit and speaking in a raspy voice she said was brought on from sleeping nearly a week on McKeldin Mall in protest, Simson called on both administrators and regents to take responsibility for building new dorms.
"From students' perspective, we've been caught in the middle of a blame game, and I think that we're facing real housing shortages as a result," Simson said. "It's time to see some action."
The regents, who govern the University System of Maryland's 11 colleges and universities, deflected Simson's criticism, however, saying they had already told administrators they could build on-campus housing if they funded it with private money. Regents Chairman Cliff Kendall added that the body would not bend its 20-year policy to finance residential projects as administrators had hoped when they challenged the regents to finance a loan for a new dorm last spring.
"We as a board have supported and will continue to support more student housing across the system using only private funding and public-private partnerships as a primary source for construction debts," he said.
But despite disagreement over who should provide housing money, Kendall still said he thought the meeting Friday was an effective tool to give students, administrators and regents a chance to put their concerns in the open.
"It focused everybody on the issue," he said in an interview. "I can't speak for the college administration or the students in terms of whether we're all on the same page, but I do think all of us share a concern in the fact that we all want to make the situation better as soon as possible."
Later during the meeting, Vice President for Student Affairs Linda Clement presented a three-pronged plan to help students find housing amid the area's tightly squeezed market.
A forum to introduce students to the Office of Off-Campus Housing Services on Thursday kicked off the initiative, which also includes a fair next Monday to connect students with local landlords. An agreement previously brokered with property managers in the area to reserve 175 beds off the campus for transfer students would also help give displaced rising seniors access to housing, she said.
While the university has added thousands of beds to on-campus housing in the past five years with The Courtyards and South Campus Commons, she admitted its housing woes wouldn't be disappearing anytime soon.
"We've added considerably, but we still have a challenge," she said.
Vice President for Administrative Affairs Doug Duncan followed Clement, telling the regents that developers have expressed an increased interest in building in the area in recent days.
"My phone's been ringing off the hook with private sector developers looking to build housing for us," he said. "We might not see it for a couple of years, but I think there's real potential."
After Duncan wrapped up his speech, regents and university officials explored alternative means of fundraising to help the university pay for a new dorm.
Regent David Nevins asked University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan to explore whether the system's donations foundation might be able to chip money toward the university's housing fund.
In an interview, university President Dan Mote said he'd consider this proposal, but said he doubted the foundation would agree to it because it doesn't usually fund major initiatives such as residential projects.
Staff writers Christina Cobb and Nathan Cohen contributed to this report. Contact reporter Ben Slivnick at slivnickdbk@gmail.com.
Be the first to comment on this article!