'Cal Poly Homeless': students protest new housing policies

ARCATA, Calif. — Hundreds of students gathered at Cal Poly Humboldt's UC Quad Wednesday to speak out about the issue of homelessness on campus.

Student protestors argued that this issue will be greatly exacerbated by the university's new housing policy that will remove on-campus housing as an option for continuing students.

"It's the system's fault for trying to push more students in and get more money out of more students," CPH Senior Trevor Silverman said.

According to the university, the new policy is a result of "unprecedented growth" of the student population, which is something that the school has actually been working toward for years.

To accommodate this growth, the university has resorted to housing some students in off-campus motels.

"To be honest, living in a motel is being homeless," student organizer Annabel Crescibene said.

Trevor Silverman is one of the students who had to move into an off-campus motel as a result of the increasing student population. According to Silverman, he was forced to move into the Comfort Inn in the Valley West area of Arcata despite already having acquired housing on campus.

"When I first got there, no internet," Silverman said. "When I tried to move out, they wouldn't let me until I pushed it for weeks."

Going forward, the off-campus motels will be the only option the school offers to continuing students.

Aside from suboptimal amenities, the location of the motels is something that many students critique.

"There's 30 to 40 homeless people who live at the homeless shelter just across the road there," CPH Senior Alex Smith said.

Since the motels are about three miles away from campus, this raises another issue for students who now have no choice but to commute.

"The idea of driving actually brings up another question of parking on campus, which is a complete mess," CPH Junior Ashton Reed said.

The student protestors are calling on the university to explore other options to house students, rather than offering motel rooms.

According to a message from the university, CPH is continuing to "explore other options," but it hasn't provided any details on what those options might be.

The university is building a 964-bed dorm at the former Craftsman Mall, but that development won't be finished until Fall of 2025, according to CPH.