During the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year, residents of UVA's International Residential College (IRC) have been forced to walk across grounds to Page house to retrieve our mail while the mail room in our building sits empty and unused.

This is particularly dangerous now that construction has begun on UVA's new Contemplative Commons, which has led to the closure of a popular walkway, now forcing students to cross Emmet Street in temporary, unlit and barely marked crosswalks on a street notorious for drivers who lack a regard for pedestrians. 

The residents of the IRC ask that UVA Housing and Residence life re-open the mailroom in Munford house so that students are able to safely obtain their mail. This will also reduce the strain on the Page mailroom, which has been plagued by long lines all semester due to its increased volume.

UVA Housing and Residence Life has told us that cost is the reason for the closing of the mailroom. However, if UVA Housing and Residence Life were to exclusively employ work-study students, they could reduce operational costs by as much at 75% due to how the federal government subsidizes the wage of work-study students.