At least 150 students showed up on campus for the start of fall classes at Clark Atlanta University. The process was slow-going, as students milled around waiting on room assignments.
When some of the students were told that they had no available housing, word began to circulate to all those still waiting on assignments and students (and parents) slowly became upset and visibly agitated.
There was clearly a major screw-up somewhere in the process. Students who said they had already paid for their housing were being told they would have to find accommodations off-campus– an additional expense. An uproar ensued.
Students began posting on social media. A local TV station, WBS-TV, showed up and reported on the snafu.
“They are saying that there’s no housing available and that one would have to resort to off-campus housing, which is a problem,” one student told WBS-TV. Turns out that the 150 now homeless students were not the only ones expected to show up. Many of the students are from out-of-state and had no place else to go.
In a statement it released to WBS-TV, the university suggested that students didn’t have dorm assignments because they did not “complete the process.”
“We have housing for all freshmen and sophomores who are financially enrolled,” wrote Michael Marshall, Clark Atlanta’s associate vice president of enrollment services. “Those who have not completed the financial enrollment process are being offered temporary housing while they complete the process.”
The University is being slammed on social media.
