As of January 15th, all members of the Brown University Buxton International House have been ordered to shift out of their current dorms and into newly assigned rooms within a 3-day period upon their return to Brown University for the Spring 2019 term. Not only is this order shocking, but it is also unjust, mentally distressing, and demonstrates partiality.

Rather than remain in their residence for the full school year, members will have to evacuate the house by the end of January due to the result of a hearing conducted in Spring 2018, a time when 75% of current residents were not even members of the house. This decision reflects cruelty and indifference towards the academic, career-related, extracurricular, and mental struggles faced by students. The Office of Residential Life is requesting students to focus on packing boxes rather than academic and extracurricular pressures that come with the beginning of a new term.

The Buxton International House is a community of individuals spanning many countries, backgrounds, and identities who have found a safe space to truly be themselves in this house. This may entail ESL students openly being able to ask their peers for grammatical help, dinners to celebrate the Indian cultural festival of Diwali, or making arepas in the Buxton kitchen.

Many students who reside in the house come from environments with dynamic political climates. Many students face rapidly deteriorating local currency values. Some are stopped at U.S. immigration counters upon coming back to college. Some cannot even leave the U.S. as they may not be allowed to re-enter. Many have no real sense of a physical space that they can call "home".

Buxton is that home. Please help us keep our home.