Supporting Quality and Affordable Housing for Graduate Employees and Families
GAU supports the Affordable Grad Housing Initiative to prevent the demolition of two Graduate and Family Housing communities: Maguire and University Village South (UVS). Below is a template email that you can edit and send to the provided list of UF administrators and their Executive Assistants. Please use the suggested subject line for your email and do not change the request that asks the Board of Trustees to not approve demolition of Maguire and UVS.
Subject
Affordable Housing for Grad Students: Keep Maguire and UVS
Recipients
- President Fuchs
- Housing and Residence Education Senior Director, Tina Horvath:
- Executive Assistant to the Housing Senior Director:
- UF Board of Trustees:
- Vice President for Student Affairs, Dr. D’Andra Mull:
- Executive Assistant to the Vice President of SA:
Send Date
Monday, November 23rd, 2020 between the hours of 9:00AM and 4:00PM.
Email Template
Dear UF Administrators,
The 2020-2030 Campus Master Plan, which includes plans to demolish Maguire Village and University Village South (UVS) by 2023, shows that UF has little interest in maintaining affordable housing for its high-performing graduate student community.
This demolition will also disproportionately affect minority students at the University of Florida, as many Graduate Family Housing residents are international. The plans to remove Maguire and UVS, with no equivalently affordable replacement housing being provided, is unconscionable.
If UF truly wants to achieve “Top 5” status and maintain an international pipeline of talented graduate workers, then it must protect and better serve its graduate students. We are a diverse group of hard-working researchers, educators, and contributors to the community who, at minimum, deserve that our affordable, on-campus housing is maintained
It is important to me that graduate students have access to affordable, on campus housing because… **(Use this space to describe what kind of financial burdens you face with reference to your stipend and rent. Keep in mind that “affordable housing” is defined by the U.S. government as a total rent that is no more than 30% of your income. If you currently live in GFH or have previously lived there, make reference to some of the benefits of this housing that administrators might not have considered).**
Considering this, we ask that the demolition of Maguire Village and University South is not approved by the Board of Trustees.
All follow-up communications can be directed to: organizing@ufgau.org
Sincerely,
Your Name
The 2020-2030 Campus Master Plan, which includes plans to demolish Maguire Village and University Village South (UVS) by 2023, shows that UF has little interest in maintaining affordable housing for its high-performing graduate student community.
This demolition will also disproportionately affect minority students at the University of Florida, as many Graduate Family Housing residents are international. The plans to remove Maguire and UVS, with no equivalently affordable replacement housing being provided, is unconscionable.
If UF truly wants to achieve “Top 5” status and maintain an international pipeline of talented graduate workers, then it must protect and better serve its graduate students. We are a diverse group of hard-working researchers, educators, and contributors to the community who, at minimum, deserve that our affordable, on-campus housing is maintained
It is important to me that graduate students have access to affordable, on campus housing because… **(Use this space to describe what kind of financial burdens you face with reference to your stipend and rent. Keep in mind that “affordable housing” is defined by the U.S. government as a total rent that is no more than 30% of your income. If you currently live in GFH or have previously lived there, make reference to some of the benefits of this housing that administrators might not have considered).**
Considering this, we ask that the demolition of Maguire Village and University South is not approved by the Board of Trustees.
All follow-up communications can be directed to: organizing@ufgau.org
Sincerely,
Your Name
