University needs to answer housing questions
In response to the University’s proposal to sell the Westmoreland complex, I must voice a few concerns. Thursday afternoon I received a letter in my mailbox informing me that my home will most likely be sold, and that I will have to move this summer. I am a graduate student, a GTF, and a Westmoreland resident. The University wants to sell my home because it isn’t profitable and because it doesn’t serve “families.” Since when does Mike Eyster or University Housing get to define what a family is? My partner and I chose Westmoreland because it was the only affordable choice for us – a student couple with no children. The University provides housing for single graduate students, undergraduates and “families.” Evidently, because we don’t have children, we are not a family.
We live on my GTF stipend, my partner’s work study and combined money from loans. The rent at Westmoreland is the rent we can afford. The University says that the community has plenty of housing to take up the slack. However, the average price of a one bedroom apartment not subsidized by the University is about $150-$200 more a month than the $355 that we now pay. My partner and I barely cover expenses as is; does the University have any advice as to how to make up that extra $150-$200 and still meet basic needs? I have a few more questions I would like the University to answer:
1. Do you intend to help the “non-families” that reside at Westmoreland find student housing or affordable off-campus housing?
2. Do you intend to subsidize the moving expenses of the approximately 600 residents of Westmoreland?
3. Do you intend to explicitly reveal, instead of vaguely allude to, what you will do with the profit you make from selling our homes?
Westmoreland residents: Do not sit idly by and let the University sell your home. The Oregon State Board of Higher Education has to approve the proposal. Let the Board know how this seemingly innocuous and profit-based proposal will affect you and your family.
Darlene Hampton
English Department GTF, Westmoreland resident