Student leaders across Morehead State University’s campus said college students often believe they don’t have a say in their housing situations, but a local organization chapter hopes to change that perception.
Last year, Morehead State University reported its twelve dorms were at a total 91% capacity, housing thousands of students. Now, organizers said the statewide organization Kentucky Tenants is working to make the voices of these underrecognized renters heard.
Officials with Kentucky Tenants, which operates chapters in Lexington and Morehead, said they advocate for affordable and sufficient housing as well as anti-discrimination measures to protect tenants.
Allison Belter is the President of the MSU chapter of Kentucky Tenants. They said the university branch exists because students began reaching out to the city chapter about issues that uniquely affect the campus body.
“We decided to make that split so that we could better focus on those separate struggles. Because they are going to be inherently different between adults living with traditional landlord situations, and then the renter situation that college students are going to be in, that their landlord is the college,” said Belter.
They said the university chapter has taken notice of many issues, such as incomplete work orders, housing shortages, and extreme temperatures in dorms. Belter said the most common complaint they hear amongst students is mold.
“A lot of people have talked about there just constantly being mold in their dorms, as well as just in buildings across campus. And a lot of that is Kentucky’s climate, but it’s also a hazard for people to live with mold, especially if it’s black mold.”
Kentucky Tenants synthesizes tenant concerns while building alliances and leading discussions with housing officials across the campus and community. Belter added the city and campus chapters of Kentucky Tenants are deeply intertwined, and they aim for graduates to continue learning about and exercising their rights through the groups. More information on the MSU chapter is available on Instagram, and the Morehead City chapter can be found on Facebook.