Photo by Kendall Bulkiewicz | The Crow’s Nest
By Alisha Durosier
Within 12 hours of learning they would be unable to return to their dorms in Pelican Apartments (RHO) for at least two weeks, USF St. Petersburg residents launched a petition calling on university officials to provide either financial compensation or alternative accommodations for displaced students.
The petition currently sits at over 1,000 signatures, and increasing by the hour.
RHO seventh floor residents and roommates, history and economics senior Liana Howe, digital communications and multimedia journalism junior Canela Vasquez, digital communications and multimedia journalism sophomore Makenna Wozniak and biology senior Dielle D’Lima, authored the petition in response to their growing frustration over the closure.
Along with many RHO residents, they gradually pieced together the details of their current situation. In the wake of Hurricane Milton, RHO sustained a water intrusion, soaking the building’s drywall. Until repairs, slated to take two weeks, are completed, students are not allowed to enter the building or retrieve their belongings. The only accommodation offered to RHO residents is alternative housing in the ballrooms on the second floor of the University Student Center, with no reimbursement for their time spent displaced.
“Even now the lack of [and] delay of communication has been causing nothing but anxiety and frustration … all while not knowing the state of our rooms or belongings,” Wozniak said after the petition was published.
An official USF email on Oct. 13 said normal business operations would resume starting Oct. 15. An hour later, USF St. Petersburg housing emailed RHO residents, informing them that the dormitory would remain closed while classes and operations on campus restarted.
The following day, USF faculty — a mix of administration, housing and university communications staff — called RHO residents to discuss their plans during the closure.
On Thursday, Oct. 17, four days after the petition was published, Stephen Harris, assistant director of housing at USF St. Petersburg emailed residents an update. The email stated that displaced residents will receive a housing credit that can be applied to a future semester.
According to the email, “the amount of the credit will vary based on the room type and how long the room is unavailable due to the building damage.” More details concerning the credit will be provided upon RHO’s reopening.
Howe, who evacuated to her hometown in Pennsylvania, said she was confused about the extent of the damages.
“I thought it was rare for buildings up to hurricane code to sustain such significant damage. So much so that students cannot even enter for a few minutes to retrieve their belongings,” Howe said.
Howe and her roommates felt as if they were being left in the dark.
“Would it be guaranteed that my professors would allow me the option to stay in Pennsylvania, or would they argue … because I could have a cot? Would I be penalized for not being in person?” Howe said. “Just a lot of questions that didn’t seem to have answers, and some that still don’t.”
According to Vasquez, the biggest question the group of four had was, what is the school going to do to help students besides having them sleep in a ballroom for the foreseeable future?
Notifications from various group chats, ranging from their dorm group chat to their floor’s GroupMe, flooded their screens.
“Everybody’s upset,” Vasquez said, recalling the Monday morning following the closure notice. “All these students are saying that this isn’t right.”
After exchanging information and figuring out their plans, the group decided to take action. On a group call, they drafted a petition, agreeing that it communicated students’ needs accurately.
“We wanted to amplify the voices of students who are unable to live in the space they paid for and secure them proper reimbursement, either in the form of at least equal value housing or a refund,” Howe said. “Two weeks may not sound like a lot, but it’s hundreds of dollars when you compare directly to the cost of an RHO room.”
A four-person apartment-style room in RHO costs $4,881 per semester, amounting to $1,220.25 per month. An apartment-style room with shared bedrooms in RHO costs $3,053 per semester, which equals $763.25 per month.
“Having us sleep in a ballroom … and take showers in a gym that only has maybe ten showers isn’t good enough. The school has done much better before. I don’t see why they can’t do much better now,” Vasquez said.
The petition cites a 2015 article from The Oracle which reported that 78 USF St. Petersburg students were relocated to Hilton Bayfront Hotel due to overcrowding in the residential halls.
Overcrowding is cited as “excessive occupancy” in USF St. Petersburg’s 2024-25 housing agreement and according to it “the university reserves the right to contract for comparable student housing accommodations in the event of excessive occupancy, available facilities, natural disaster, etc.”
“I’m not able to live in my dorm rooms that I paid for, and I can’t afford it as it is,” a student commented under the petition.
Another petitioner commented, “I am absolutely appalled to hear about this. As someone with a family member attending this university, I’m horrified to hear about how administration is treating its students.”
Seeing the positive response to the petition, Vasquez said she felt a sense of pride in USF St. Petersburg’s student body, noting that she felt students are sometimes undermined by administration.
“We can sometimes forget that we are allowed to say what we want to say, of course, being as respectful as possible, but demand our proper treatment,” Vasquez said.
Emphasizing the balance between respect and advocacy, Howe said that it is possible for multiple truths to exist simultaneously. She stresses that students can navigate this complex situation all while standing up for themselves.
“We are allowed to be upset about our situation while remaining grateful to have our health, lives, and loved ones after a deadly and destructive storm,” Howe said. “We can recognize the university is working in challenging circumstances while continuing to communicate we deserve equal or better valued accommodation or a refund.”
