On Wednesday, Nov. 15, University of Connecticut vice president of student life and enrollment, Nathan Fuerst, sent out an email to the residential undergraduate community that updated them on a new housing policy that limited guaranteed housing to six semesters instead of eight for continuing undergraduate students. The email cited a “very high demand for housing since the close of the pandemic, prompting a review of housing eligibility for students alongside the current bed inventory.” The decision faced immediate and heavy backlash from many members of the UConn community, leading to it being reversed only a few short hours later.
The controversy generated from this policy and the surprise which many students and families felt after being notified of it demonstrates a gross lack of community input, one which is entirely unacceptable considering the increasing difficulties of finding affordable housing off-campus. Caused by the university’s back-and-forth on the issue, the stress and confusion dealt to students and families, during what is already one of the most stressful times of the academic year could have been prevented had the administration taken the time to understand the perspectives of the people affected by this decision. Furthermore, jeopardizing continuing students’ housing plans with no warning exhibits clear disregard for the existence and well-being of low-income or housing insecure students.
While administration attempts to offer less to students in the way of housing, this contrasts with the trend of demanding more from students in the way of tuition and fees. Since 2019, tuition has been steadily raising as part of a five-year plan to increase it by 23.3% for 2024. This comes alongside the several various fees which have either been added or raised throughout recent years. This is all the result of UConn continuing to expand recklessly with multiple costly developments while they do little to obtain additional funding from the state. As the Editorial Board has previously discussed, the deterioration of housing stock like Buckley Residence Hall adds to UConn’s glaring sustainability issues as it builds without a solid foundation.
Still, The Daily Campus Editorial Board would like to note an important silver lining of this event as well. The strength of the student response to this policy change was able to cause its reversal in an incredibly short amount of time to the benefit of the entire student body. It serves as an important reminder of the power students have in collective action when hoping to affect decision making on campus. Although many aspects of UConn decision making are unfortunately undemocratic in nature, this university cannot ignore its students forever. As calls for reform exist in the university’s policies on climate change, tuition increases, food insecurity and more The Editorial Board urges students and community members to remember this moment and continue to let their voices be heard to push this university forward.