Student Government focused on student housing concerns, including affordability and accessibility in West Campus, during its third town hall of the semester.
The meeting began with a presentation from the UT Tenants’ Union, which launched in March to tackle student housing issues. Namratha Thrikutam, outreach coordinator for the union, said students created the organization to find tangible solutions to address the vulnerabilities of prospective tenants looking for off-campus housing.
“It’s not just an individual thing that you have a windowless bedroom,” architecture senior Thrikutam said. “It’s not just an individual thing that you lost water for five days. This is something that a lot of your peers and your community is experiencing as well, which means that it’s a more structural issue that needs to be addressed.”
The union previously campaigned to ban windowless bedrooms, which are now banned in all new construction in Austin.
After the presentation, attendees divided into four groups: neighborhood quality and policy initiatives, food security, first apartment search and new tenant issues.
The Neighborhood Quality and Policy Initiatives Group discussed their experience with CapMetro’s unreliable wait times, feeling unsafe on public transit and the West Campus food desert. Emily Mckinney, a women’s and gender studies senior, said the only grocery options within walking distance are overpriced convenience stores. She said that as a low-income student, she can’t afford to get the groceries she needs from these stores.
Mckinney said the UT Outpost, a free on-campus food pantry, has been a resource for her, but the University should do more to help students facing food insecurity.
The first apartment search group talked about affordability standards and apartment hunting for transfer students. Tabitha Verdugo, co-director of Student Government’s Community Engagement and Advocacy Agency, said she had difficulty finding housing when she transferred to UT.
“It would be nice if there was some sort of guidance once you are accepted (to UT), like, ‘These are the resources you can go to (to find housing),’” Verdugo said. “When I was accepted, I was like, ‘What do I do now?'”
Verdugo said she used a real estate agent to find her current apartment. She said the University should encourage other first-year transfer students to use agents to find appropriate housing.
The UT Tenants’ Union also discussed broken elevators and monthly fees for rooms with windows. Kayla Quilantang, the union’s chair and internal director, said some students must pay an additional fee to have a window.
At the end of the meeting, Student Government President Grace Kelly said she would mention all of the concerns to University administration in their next meeting.
