BREAKING: Freshmen housing requirement ‘dead’

The proposal that would force first time in college freshmen to live on campus starting Fall 2015 is “dead” after opposition from Texas Senator and UH alum John Whitmire.

“The university has assured me that it has been taken off the table and is dead,” Whitmire said. “I will continue to monitor it and take whatever steps are necessary to see that it never gets any life again.”

Whitmire said he found out about the proposal from a text message that Chancellor Renu Khator sent him. After an exchange, Khator told him that UH would no longer consider the plan.

According to the original plan, waivers to appeal the mandatory housing would be available to freshmen that demonstrate financial difficulty, medical or ADA need or have a reason that deems it counterproductive for them to live on campus. The requirement would not apply to students who live with a parent or legal guardian within 20 miles of campus or to students who are married or have a child.

Whitmire, who graduated from UH in 1975, lived in an apartment with his mother and worked to help pay the rent during college. He is primarily concerned with the added costs freshmen would face if required to live on campus.

“A large number of UH students happen to work,” Whitmire said. “It would make it much, much more difficult for them to work if they depended on other support systems at home, like siblings or parents.”

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