Heritage Commons at Clark Atlanta University.Photo: Google Maps
Parents who were moving their children into dorm rooms at Clark Atlanta University say they’re furious over a housing nightmare involving delayed renovations — a situation the school president has called “indefensible.”
Tewana Nelson is one of the parents who were shocked to find out that the Heritage Commons dorm was not ready for her daughter on move-in day, according to CBS affiliateWGCL.
Heritage Commons, Clark Atlanta’s main dorm, has been under renovations but is currently running behind schedule and unable to house students, the outlet reported. So students were moved to 444 Highland Avenue, an off-campus housing building that Clark Atlanta is temporarily borrowing, according to WGCL. TheAtlanta Journal-Constitutionreported that a total of 464 students were relocated there.
However, after seeing the building, some parents told WGCL the property isn’t safe due to a variety of problems — including bugs, mold, and broken ceiling tiles.
“I don’t know if it’s a hotel or apartment complex… whatever it is, it looks like it’s been abandoned,” Nelson explained to WGCL, which reported that parents described the ordeal as “dorm chaos.”
“This is very disrespectful to us as a parent,” added Nelson, “and plus it’s disrespectful to this university.”
Clark Atlanta University.Raymond Boyd/Getty Images
“While most of our dorm rooms are ready for freshmen and upper-class students to move-in, we sincerely apologize that renovations to one of our main dorms, Heritage Commons have run behind schedule,” the statement continued. “Right now, we are speaking with students and families to listen to their concerns, and to let them know we understand. We are working diligently to resolve this issue and are offering temporary housing and transportation solutions until the renovations are complete.”
“At Clark Atlanta University, our students come first,” the school continued. “We will stay in touch with all affected students and families, provide updates to ensure we take care of them and get this unfortunate challenge resolved as soon as possible. We ask for the patience of affected students and families and we thank them for working with us.”
Parents expressed initial concerns when they arrived to Clark Atlanta’s campus and, without warning, learned Heritage Commons was not available, according to WGCL.
“They never contacted us prior to us leaving out of our home and bringing our children here and with no place to stay,” Nelson told the outlet.
Complaints reportedly continued when parents discovered the temporary building was farther off-campus than expected. (Located four miles east, the property is approximately 15 minutes away from Clark Atlanta’s main campus.)
“I thought it was around the corner or something, they said off-campus but …damn… this is damn near out the state,” an unidentified parent told WGCL.
Making matters worse, parents and students reportedly arrived at the temporary housing only to find the building was unsanitary.
“There’s bugs all in the refrigerator… there’s bugs all in the window seal … and I got [to] travel nine hours back to Ohio, but you want me to leave my child here?” parent Rosland Hawkins told WGCL. “I don’t feel safe.”
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In his note, French Jr. vowed to refund impacted students 50% of the semester room fee. He also noted that the university is rushing to complete the dorm renovations and will pay for parking and shuttle service fees to transport students to and from campus for activities and meals.
“We cannot apologize enough for this unfortunate incident,” French Jr. wrote in his note. “It is indefensible. As the ‘Buck stops’ with me, I prefer to acknowledge this dereliction and ask your forgiveness rather than making excuses.”
This isn’t the first time that Clark Atlanta University, Georgia’s largest private historically Black university, has faced housing issues, French Jr. acknowledged in the note.
In 2018, as many as 150 students were told their rooms weren’t available due to “financial issues,” theJournal-Constitutionreported.
Students also had to temporarily live in a hotel near campus at the start of the school year in the early 2000s, Bob Holmes, a former state representative who taught at Clark Atlanta, told the local outlet.
Holmes blamed the lack of funding for HBCUs for housing maintenance issues, the outlet reported.
“That’s the reason why they aren’t able to do renovations,” he told theJournal-Constitution.
A spokesperson for Clark Atlanta University did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
