SUMMARY

This petition covers the current housing issue many students are facing this Fall 2026 semester at Alabama State University, through no fault of their own. If you attend ASU and you are affected, or you want to see a change in the way ASU approaches housing, sign this petition.  It's free, and it doesn't hurt only helps. So many students should not have to be facing such stress and concern over where they will stay, or if they will continue college at ASU. ASU is a place many of us have made our home, and we have to care enough to want improvement. Share this as much as possible and continue to contact your advisors and representatives, ASU departments, to let them know we won't let this stand. You may feel like one of many, but together we can actually do something. 

"As we stand and sit here this evening and as we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, let us go out with a grim and bold determination that we are going to stick together. We are going to work together. Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future, somebody will have to say, “There lived a race of people a black people, ‘fleecy locks and black complexion’, a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights." - Dr. Martin Luther King 1955: Montgomery Bus Boycott speech

THE ISSUE

On April 6th, 2026, housing applications opened for general students with these conditions:

"Students with a $0 balance - You can apply starting Monday, April 6th at 8:00 a.m. Make sure your balance is fully paid by Thursday, April 2nd at 5:00 p.m. If it is not, the portal will not open for you on Monday."

For students with a payment plan, applications opened Tuesday, April 7th; and students with a balance under $5000 had to wait til Wednesday, April 8th. If your balance exceeded $5000, you had to wait until Thursday, April 9th.  Unfortunately, that Monday around noon, housing had reached full capacity.  Students who had paid their balance and filled out their application, along with the many students who had remaining balances at the time, were left without housing. Meaning, to have gotten housing for Fall of 2026, you had to have no balance, fill out your application, pay the deposit, and be the first students to do so. 

The initial solution given was to apply for a waitlist to receive housing, which you must still have paid the $250 deposit for. By the end of the Spring 2026 semester, the only solutions were to find off-campus housing or consistently contact the housing office in hopes of getting on-campus housing, with few dorm and apartment offers in the following months. 

After very few updates in June, the main alternative presented in July was still off-campus housing in the form of apartments and hotels, which some students who were previously offered stated they had to pay around $8000 and were not offered any travel benefits with varying financial assistance. 

With less than a month left til the Fall 2026 semester starts, many of the students without housing are returning. Students who joined took classes, joined organizations, formed relationships, and created new lives. These students are expected to pay extra amounts to obtain housing, or wait till spring semester for housing to open. So this is a call to action. A petition to say our voice matters and student genuinely care about their on-campus lives and their journey at ASU. 

THE DEMANDS

ASU students have consistently expressed stress, anger, resentment, and disappointment with the handling of student housing. On behalf of ASU students, I have created a list of demands or issues to address. The truth is, this should never be an issue. The school needs to take accountability for its oversight and prove ASU is a school any student can rely on.  This housing incident shows that future returning or incoming ASU students cannot trust ASU to provide them housing.  This petition and, by extension, these demands are proof of how much the school is loved. Students want to attend the illustrious ASU, but when their voices aren't heard and their feelings aren't taken into account, only one thing feels apparent: ASU does not care for its students properly. This is equally about encouraging initiative to get students their housing as much as it is about strengthening the relationship between ASU and its students. We are asking for care, respect, and communication, and I hope that sentiment is being received.

• A response and acknowledgement to this petition or student concerns about housing 
  • Students want to know the school hears what we are saying and understands the effects this situation has on students
• An attempt to contact sponsors or ASU supporters to assist in the financial burden of unhoused students
  • Students can understand the financial roadblocks to housing assistance, but the responsibility of housing still belongs to ASU. If there are avenues to receive more funding, we would like to see ASU take them
• Consistent updates and messaging through and about the housing portal
  • Many students are curious about housing or may be on the waitlist who aren't updated about their placement. The portal is a crucial part of the information students receive and should be updated. 
  • Students need information not only to make major academic and financial decisions, but to feel a sense of understanding in such a stressful situation
• Invest more resources into returning students
  • This investment doesn't refer to financial assistance, which is also necessary. Students need more people to talk to, places to go, and options to make the most of the position they are in
• Provide transparency about who is receiving housing
  • A lot of students invest their time and money into ASU, and have the right to know that investment in benefitting them. Whether this looks like a financial report or housing population record, students need to know if it is still  worth it to invest in ASU