Contents
(i).....UCSB Housing Crisis
(ii)....Pandemic
(iii)...Demand
(i) UCSB’s Housing Crisis
As the nationwide housing crisis continues, UCSB has neglected to adhere to its plan of sustainable growth. Two major points must be made.
(a) UCSB’s 2010 Long Range Development Plan, promised total enrollment would not exceed 25,000 students. Nonetheless, in 2019 total enrollment was 26,314.1
(b) UCSB promised to build 5,000 new units for the growing student body, and an additional 1,800 units for faculty by 2025. Instead, only 1,500 student units and 263 faculty units have been built.2
UCSB has effectively caused nearly a thousand students to face the reality of potential houselessness on the condition of attending UCSB in the Fall of 2021.3 With 1,350 respondents (as of 8/29), our survey has found that 370 students (28% of respondents) have no housing for the 2021-2022 school year.4 In lieu of insufficient accommodations, many UCSB students are planning to live in their cars if offered no other alternative.5 This is an issue that will disproportionately impact members of marginalized communities, and is contributing to the gentrification and rent increases of the greater Goleta/Santa Barbara area. The lack of timely response and planning from UCSB administration paints a clear picture: the profits of the university are prioritized above the needs of its students and workers, along with the working class of Santa Barbara County.
(ii) An Unsafe Return
Meanwhile, the U.S. has reached 100,000 Covid-19 hospitalizations, the highest surge since Winter 2020: “Hospitalizations nationwide have increased by nearly 500% in the last two months.”6 As of August 28th, Santa Barbara County’s 7-day average of new cases is 132 cases per day.7
Further, students and graduate student workers have not received any detailed guidance or protocol from the university in response to a possible outbreak of positive cases. While there are many students with medical and/or logistical concerns about returning to on-campus instruction, there is a serious deficiency in providing a well-thought-out plan to address these concerns. What will happen when UCSB mandates over 26,000 students to return to campus given the current reality of Covid-19 cases?
(iii) Demands
We demand that given the current housing crisis that is impacting hundreds of UCSB students, in conjunction with the currently surging pandemic which poses logistical and safety concerns for the entire campus community and surrounding areas, UCSB must meet two conditions.
(a) Provide the option of fully online courses for Fall 2021 for all students, graduate workers, and faculty who wish to remain online. We acknowledge that in some cases, courses must be held in person, yet it is important that the immediate needs and concerns of our campus community are met with adequate policy.
(b) Provide fairly priced housing options for every single member of it’s academic community in the Fall of 2021, as well as all future quarters.
1 “Facts and Figures.” UC Santa Barbara, The Regents of the University of California, 2019, www.ucsb.edu/about/facts-and-figures.
2Hayden Wed Jun 30, Tyler. “As UCSB Grows and Grows, It Falls Way Behind on Building Housing.” The Santa Barbara Independent, 30 June 2021, www.independent.com/2021/06/30/as-ucsb-grows-it-falls-way-behind-on-building-housing/.
3“2010 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP).” Office of Strategic Asset Management, Nov. 2016, sam.ucsb.edu/campus-planning-design/2010-long-range-development-plan
4“Housing for FALL 2021 Survey.” Google Forms, Organize IV, 20 Aug. 2021, forms.gle/QSVBHrfAmp5T83Xx7.
5Le Wed Aug 25, Luc. “Must Ucsb Students Live in Their Cars?” The Santa Barbara Independent, 25 Aug. 2021, www.independent.com/2021/08/25/must-ucsb-students-live-in-their-cars/
6Levin, Dan. “The U.S. Reaches 100,000 Average Daily Covid Hospitalizations for the First Time SINCE Winter's Peak.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 30 Aug. 2021,www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/us/delta-100000-covid-patients.html.
7“Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 Aug. 2021, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html
Drafted by: Organize IV
Endorsements: Prof. Dick Flacks: Chair of Sustainable University Now (S.U.N.), Red Jooce Project, Isla Vista Tenants Union, Santa Barbara Tenants Union, Black Pioneers Renaissance Organization, Showing Up for Racial Justice Santa Barbara (SURJSB), Prof. Richard Appelbaum: Distinguished Professor Emeritus and former MacArthur Chair in Sociology and Global & International Studies, Prof. Mark Juergensmeyer: Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Global Studies - Interim Director of Orfalea Center for Global & Int’l Studies, UCSB Trans & Queer Commission, UCSB Young Democratic Socialists of America (Y.D.S.A), UCSB4COLA, UCSB Commission on Disability Equality (C.O.D.E.), UCSB UAW2865 Organizing Committee, AS Office of the External Vice President of Statewide Affairs, A.S. Office of the External Vice President for Local Affairs, A.S. Office of the President, A.S. Office of the Student Advocate
To pledge solidarity with the student and faculty coalition that is organizing to resolve the #UCSBHousingCrisis, and demand an #OnlineOptionNow please sign below.