The housing crisis at the University of Connecticut has been well-documented by the Editorial Board in the last few years. As UConn admitted yet another record-breaking class of freshmen this year, the issue is only growing. The crunch for space is occurring at both the main Storrs campus and at the regional campuses. One example is the conflict playing out at the UConn Stamford campus, where tenants of a building have formed a union to avoid being evicted to make room for UConn students. The impacts of this situation resonate beyond the UConn Stamford regional campus, as it is a consequence of enlarged class sizes and the ongoing problems with housing at UConn.
According to the Stamford Advocate, tenants at The BLVD, a housing complex in Stamford that now hosts both UConn students and city residents, were informed that the building would be fully converted into student housing. The tenants have until April 2026 to move out.
In response, nine tenants of The BLVD who were part of Stamford’s below-market rate (BMR) program formed a union, demanding answers as to why they were being forced out. The BMR program helps renters who are making less money than the area’s median income and moving to a different location may jeopardize their ability to remain in the program.
The formation of the union emphasizes that UConn’s attempts to expand are hurting ordinary residents. Although UConn generates billions of dollars for Connecticut’s economy (a 2020 report published in UConn Today announced that the four regional campuses of Stamford, Avery Point, Waterbury and Hartford created a benefit of $383 million combined), this does not mean we should justify expansion when it has negative effects on vulnerable people who are just trying to get by.
This is a problem of UConn’s own making: by admitting too many students, the need to expand and find more housing has become extremely pressing. The number of first-year students attending UConn Stamford in 2025 increased by 100 to around 1,050. As a result, the number of UConn Stamford students on a waitlist for housing increased to 80 last August.
Although nine tenants may not seem like a large number, it echoes the problem of housing as a whole at UConn. The students who enter the UConn community, including those who are now occupying rooms at The BLVD, are unwittingly pushing both city residents and other students out. At UConn’s main campus in Storrs, undergraduates are now only guaranteed two semesters of housing – one year of college – when they were previously given eight semesters. This has required many students to scramble for housing, and many have ended up on a waitlist, just like at UConn Stamford.
As Connecticut’s flagship university, UConn has a responsibility to not just its own students, but to the residents of the state. Forcing tenants out of their apartments to make room for students due to over-admittance does not live up to the ideal of UConn being a benefit to Connecticut. Especially since this is impacting BMR residents, there is an added responsibility owing to the fact that this disrupts a vulnerable community. As this struggle continues, the Editorial Board hopes that the university will make every attempt to satisfy the needs of residents who it is attempting to supplant.
The situation at The BLVD demonstrates that far from addressing the detriments of expansion, UConn is only moving ahead with putting more stress on both itself and the areas its students reside in. As students move into The BLVD and it becomes another UConn-only apartment complex, The Editorial Board urges UConn to carefully consider the consequences of further expansion.