News > March 6, 2008

By Kevin Koehler | Contributing editor

The controversial eviction of faculty and staff from the apartments on Allen Easley Drive will be delayed until June 2009 for most residents, the university told them March 3. Three of the 10 buildings, however, will still be renovated starting May 26 and converted into student housing for the fall semester.

The Faculty/Staff apartments are located behind Scales Fine Arts Center, as shown on this university map of the Reynolda campus.

Residents of those buildings, number six, seven and eight, must move out by May 25, either to another of the buildings or off campus. If they choose to leave, the university will compensate them a total of $3,000, in addition to local moving expenses.

The majority of residents, those living in buildings 1-5 and 9-10, have the option to move out by June 30 and receive $2,500 plus moving costs, or they can choose to stay through the end of May 2009 at the latest. At that point, all the apartment buildings will be made into student housing.

“We were never asking for money. We want respect and openness in decision making and real commitment to fostering community,” wrote a group of apartment residents in a statement given to the Old Gold & Black March 5. “Dr. Hatch, please publicly admit that you and your administration were wrong to carry out discussions whose implications were so far-reaching, without consulting those to be affected.”

In a campus-wide e-mail sent the day prior, March 4, Hatch said, “Whether we should have alerted residents at the moment it became an idea can be argued, but what we do know now is that it is our best available option to meet urgent student housing needs. Further, it would have been presumptuous to have alerted residents of the Faculty/Staff Apartments to the possibility of the the change before our trustees had received reports concerning the apartments and related matters.”

Contention began last month when the university announced in a Feb. 11 letter its intent to convert all the faculty and staff apartment buildings, requiring the eviction of all tenants in less than four months time.

The move angered residents, as well as other faculty and staff, not only for the loss of on-campus faculty living and the disruption caused by the short notice, but for the manner in which the administration made and announced the decision. Residents began circulating a petition and met with President Hatch on Feb. 28 to air their grievances.

“We have listened to your concerns about the move, about the original timetable proposed, and about the manner in which the original policy decision was communicated to you,” wrote Ken Zick, vice president of student life, in a March 3 e-mail to residents informing them of revised plans. “As a university, we want to meet those concerns in a generous and sensitive way.”

There will be rooms available for all residents to have their choice among the options, according to Kevin Cox, assistant vice president for public affairs. “They’ve already done the calculation with current vacancies and people who had scheduled to move. We already know we have the space they need,” he said.

The three buildings will undergo construction to upgrade plumbing, electrical work and security systems, improve appearances and laundry facilities, as well as install air conditioning.

The Delta Zeta sorority will also move into apartment building six for the fall semester, with both a lounge and block of housing for members. No other Greek organizations are scheduled to relocate to the apartment buildings, according to Cox.

Residents of the private houses on Bell Vista Court and Aaron Lane, which abut the apartment complex, have expressed grave concern that their new student neighbors will cause disturbances and ultimately degrade the value of their property. President Hatch responded directly to this in his March 4 e-mail.

“We believe the presence of resident of resident advisers and the increased capacity to monitor student behavior will help ensure that undergraduates are good neighbors,” he wrote. “We will be diligent in our efforts to see that the neighbors are not adversely affected.”

In their statement to the OGB asking for an apology from the administration, faculty apartment residents asked that nearby homeowners be compensated. “... in recognition of the fact that their property values will fall, regardless of any claims you may make about closely monitoring student behavior and risks,” they said.

They also asked the administration to seriously consider new facilities elsewhere on campus, “to replace what is being lost on Allen Easley Drive.”

“Respond directly to these requests and stop trying to avoid the real issues,” they said.

“I feel awkward asking people to be concerned about something so petty and selfish,” said one resident of the apartments who asked not to be identified. “Most broadly, this is about how the university makes decisions, which is just abominable. There is so much secrecy ... it’s a very closed process.”

“This is not about housing,” he said. “We’re standing on principal.”

“I agree with a lot of what President Hatch has been saying,” he continued. “He’s got a tough job, I’m very sympathetic. But at least some of his top people don’t understand the problem with secrecy ... Secrecy, as any precocious 8-year-old understands, is used when you have something to hide. In this case, probably some incompetent planning.”

An apology would go along way, according to this resident. “We just want to be treated with respect,” he said.

In the March 4 e-mail, Hatch wrote, “Because it is my practice to share information with you frequently, I wish that we had been in a position to give more than four or five months’ notice to residents, but it was not feasible ... Sometimes, the congruence of circumstances dictates the timing and sequence of decisions, and the housing challenge was such an occasion.”

Staff writer Molly Nevola contributed reporting to this article.