Chants of anger and frustration rang out from the heart of campus Friday afternoon as 75 to 100 mostly Westmoreland Apartments residents rallied against the University’s decision to try to sell the property and the 404 apartments on it.
“What are we fighting for?”
“Our homes!” chanted the crowd gathered at the EMU Amphitheater.
If the Oregon State Board of Higher Education on Friday approves the proposal to sell the property, located more than two miles west of campus, nearly 600 residents could be displaced, including 54 children. If approved, residents will still be allowed to live there until June 30, 2006.
Protesters voiced their opinions about the University’s decision while marching from the
amphitheater to Susan Campbell Hall, where the offices for the Oregon University System are located, to the steps of Johnson Hall.
Protesters carried signs that read “No Home = No Education” and “Westmoreland is Diversity.” Others were sitting in a cardboard box that read, “Eyster Housing,” referring to Director of University Housing and Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs Mike Eyster.
“We are not fighting for ourselves. We are fighting for our community,” said Bing Li, rally organizer and chairwoman of the Westmoreland Tenants Council. “They have no plan to take care of us, nowhere for us to go. We just want to protect our homes, our community and our kids.”
University officials decided to try to sell the Westmoreland property to avoid high maintenance costs and the high cost of repairs for major structural damage to the 45-year-old property. University officials aim to use the money to improve student housing closer to campus, although they’ve said that some of it could be used for other purposes.
The 21-acre Westmoreland property is worth an estimated $15 million to $18 million. Graduate student Teresa Coronado is in her third year living in Westmoreland.
“This is a huge blow to the multicultural and working-class community,” Coronado said. “They raised our rent, which was difficult, and now they’re selling our homes. By selling Westmoreland, the University is
taking away the most affordable housing available to grad students, international students, non-traditional students and student families. … Most of us are living off a GTF salary and/or student loans.”
Darlene Hampton, a graduate teaching fellow in the English department, said the University’s representation of Westmoreland residents is misleading.
Hampton said Westmoreland residents come from countries such as China, India, Malaysia, Poland and Togo; she called Westmoreland a global community that works.
“Westmoreland is diversity,” Hampton said. “Spencer View and East Campus isn’t enough. There’s already a waiting list and even if there was enough room, where are we going to get the money for extra rent? What are we going to eat?”
Graduate student Hasnah Toran said in an interview that the rally’s turnout wasn’t as big as it should have been because the international students living in Westmoreland aren’t used to a culture where rallying is accepted.
“A lot of countries don’t do this sort of thing,” Toran said. “International students are afraid of jeopardizing their visas. Language barriers are also an issue.”
Toran said international students living in Spencer View Apartments come mostly from richer countries like Japan and South Korea, and most students living in Westmoreland can’t cope with the extra rent it will take to move from Westmoreland to another University Housing option.
“We have students at Westmoreland that come from Third World countries. … We’re barely making it,” Toran said. “We come here thinking we can change our lives but by taking away the only housing that the majority of Westmoreland’s residents can afford, the University is only making it more difficult for all of us.”
Hampton said in an interview that the University’s decision comes at a very difficult time for Westmoreland’s residents.
“It’s the middle of the term,” Hampton said. “We’re grading papers, dealing with our own midterms and papers and save our apartments in the middle of all this. It’s not helpful.”

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