A student senator last week introduced a resolution opposing the sale of Westmoreland Apartments, drawing fire for what some called a near-sighted and confrontational resolution.
Senator Toby Piering introduced the new legislation at the April 26 meeting, just after student senators debated and killed a resolution against Iran’s nuclear program because many said it wasn’t germane to the majority of University students.
Several senators argued that the University’s proposed sale of the 404-unit complex is inevitable and opposing it at this point would only distance student government from the University administrators pushing for the sale, possibly ruining future requests for a smooth transition to new housing for current Westmoreland residents.
The resolution, scheduled to be debated Wednesday at the weekly Student Senate meeting, is a replica of the University Senate’s resolution that passed unanimously on Jan. 11. The Student Senate already issued a letter opposing the sale on Nov. 1, but a resolution is said to carry more weight.
The Senate opposes the sale, the resolution states, because it eliminates the University’s least expensive housing, which directly affects low-income and older students, those with families and both graduate and undergraduate students. Further, the resolution states that the proposed sale, made public by the University in October, “directly and indirectly influences the ability of the University to fulfill its explicit commitments to access, affordability, diversity, community, international awareness and graduate education, as stated in the University Mission Statement.”
Piering asked the Senate to act with urgency in sending the resolution to a subcommittee for official formatting. If the Senate passes the resolution tonight, student government leaders will be able to present it at the Oregon University System’s board meeting this Thursday and Friday at Portland State University.
Senators Wally Hicks and Senate Vice President Sara Hamilton drafted another letter in late November asking University President Dave Frohnmayer for a timeline on the Westmoreland sale. The letter also asks the University to reinvest in comparable student housing when the complex is sold.
“If the University wants something, they’re going to get it, and that’s the way it is,” Hamilton said in November.
At last week’s Senate meeting, Hamilton added to her previous argument, saying universities more and more have to be run like corporations and reinvest their money when there isn’t a lot coming in.
ASUO Vice President Kyla Coy told senators at the meeting about the latest presidential advisory council meeting, at which Frohnmayer discussed the $410 million raised so far with the Campaign Oregon: Transforming Lives fundraiser.
She said $15 million, the low estimate for the sale price of Westmoreland Apartments, “is a small chunk of change in this total.”
Hamilton asked how this resolution was any different than the one against Iranian nuclear ambitions.
Senate Treasurer Mike Filippelli said “this is precisely what we should be dealing with” after arguing that the sale hurts students, graduate teaching fellows and international students.
Senator Dallas Brown, in opposing the resolution, said senators should be proactive in ensuring a smooth transition.”They’re not trying to screw anybody,” Brown said of University administrators. He said he was persuaded by some points raised by Frohnmayer and said he believed Frohnmayer when he said the millions of dollars in revenue will go to other University housing.
“They’re thinking in terms of students,” he said.
Contact the campus and federal politics reporter at [email protected]
