CVA will be closing for the summer

Students must seek new places to live

Most students on campus have had the immense pleasure of living at Campus Village Apartments (CVA) for at least a year, especially if they are from out of state or live too far away to commute. Some of these students have also stayed at CVA over the summer, since they can’t afford to go home or find it easier to stay over the summer vacation. However, CVA is planning to close for the entire upcoming break.

When asked about how she felt about the repairs and how long it’s taken, Josie Woods, business management major, said, “They would tell us that the hot water would be unavailable during certain times for maintenance, but then water wouldn’t be available regardless. I get that the mornings are probably high demand times, but seriously, please be able to meet our demands; we were showering in hypothermia-inducing water. It’s like they’re addressing the issue, and I’m glad, but everything they do isn’t even worth being called a Band-Aid solution—more like a paper towel and tape solution.”

In contrast, the desk assistant for CVA and psychology and biology major, Oscar Calderon, said, “Students never went days without hot water. The water was turned off to make repairs and then turned back on and only minor repairs could be done with residents in the building.” When it was pointed out that several students had complained about days without warm showers, Calderon simply said, “Well, I live here and I worked in the mornings and maintenance would tell me exactly what time they would turn it off and exactly what time it would be back on.”

So why is the building closing, and what about the students that were relying on CVA to house them for the summer? The email that was sent out on April 3 notifying the closure simply stated, “Based on significant repairs and improvements needed for Campus Village, CU Denver will be working to address those concerns this summer and next summer.” It goes on to say, “Please plan on securing your belongings and exiting the premises at the end of your contract by Friday, May 11, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. All graduating seniors have until Sunday, May 13 at 10:00 a.m. to depart from the Campus Village community to help ensure a smooth transition.” There is no where in the email that gives resources for students that will be displaced for the renovations.

Meloni Rudolph-Crawford, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Life and Residential Education, said in an email, “Due to a serious issue with our HVAC system, we made the difficult decision to close down for this summer and next summer to completely replace the current system. The university officially made the decision to go forward with this plan on April 2. However, in the second week of March, we started to let the impacted groups and individuals know that a shutdown was a possibility. In the third and fourth weeks of March, we did a great deal of work connecting groups and students with other options so they could start making plans as soon as possible, since we know this was short notice.”

So whether students were planning to live at CVA next summer or just next school year, one thing for sure can be said: at least the new A/C will be satisfying for everyone involved.