Here is a news report with current students who were involved in the protest:
In watching this clip, no claims were made that the conditions of the dorms were being addressed in a meaningful way. Not by the students who were being interviewed, and definitely not by the president of the university. The hush-hush-ness (sorry for the spelling) is just disturbing to me, and there’s no way to determine what improvements are being made. Considering that the school doesn’t have extra capacity to re-home students on campus. They sold off a couple of their dorms a few years ago when they needed cash, so they don’t have the rooms on campus to send students elsewhere while the dorms are being repaired. And if there is water damage and mold, it’s in the walls, and you can’t just “repair” that without tearing out and replacing sheetrock.
Initially, students/parents complained that GU wasn’t forthcoming about the issue, just as HU students/parents are complaining now. It’s a very difficult situation to address when such institutions are as landlocked as these two. Not making excuses for either GU or HU, but there are no easy answers. I think both schools are going to struggle with facilities management for a while longer.
Ultimately, that means some students/families are going to have to make tough decisions about where to attend. But to assume such issues can/will be corrected immediately is not realistic.
I think when schools try to hide their problems, it makes it worse, because there is no trust. And knowing that no institution is anywhere near perfect, when you’re spending a couple hundred thousand dollars (whether that is with financial aid, self-pay, or a combination), you’d expect some transparency to build and maintain trust. We’re sending our babies (yes, I said that) outside our care, and while this is the opportunity for them to learn independence, resiliency, how to navigate the world, this can’t be the first exposure into that world. So as you said, some tough decisions have to be made. And my daughter and I made the decision to give up her spot (she hasn’t done it yet, though).
As well, agreed, these issues will take awhile to resolve. And when you have long-contracted private companies (Corvias, for HU) maintaining these buildings, whose profit margins are already small, I have to wonder whose interest are they really for.