Amidst the chaos of the final weeks of the semester, many of the members of the residential community at Cal State Monterey Bay have undergone a series of stressful events in the process of applying and securing housing for the 2025-2026 academic year. Although the waiting list has now been cleared, judging from the social media comments of many students, as well as conversations with Lutrinae staff members, this is an issue that’s far from being over. It’s important to reflect back on how it all began.
March 10, 9 a.m. – Reservation Day applications open
With the housing application process transitioning to a first-come come first-serve process, messages from Student Housing and Residential Life (SHRL) stressed the importance of early application, saying it would increase applicant chances of receiving preferred housing.
The self-service website StarRez Housing slowed down dramatically, seeming to freeze as applications opened. Students faced difficulty applying early for priority housing, beginning a series of stressful events for the residential community on campus. According to Director of Student Housing Jeff Cooper, the housing website “got very slow,” but never crashed.
In a post to the MyRaft feed, Mhongzoong Yang wrote, “Instead of rebranding and putting $c7cy2biehf38ejwbe into a new logo. Don’t yall think that maybe we should’ve put that money into working websites? Every year w/o fail housing crashes and then we have to wait the whole morning. Be so serious.”
April 14, 9 a.m. – Selection Days opens
The intention of Selection Days was to divide applicants into groups depending on their year and how early they applied during Reservation Days and assign designated time slots for them to choose their preferred housing assignment – the first of which was intended for rising sophomores. However, applicants reported they were allowed access to the website as early as 8 am, before their designated time slot.
Word got out that the time-slot system wasn’t working and highly desirable housing like Promontory and East Campus singles were filled quickly by underclassmen. Limited spaces were left for rising upperclassmen whose allotted application times were scheduled two days later.
“We were told ‘If you really want Prom[ontory], we can give one of you a double in Prom[ontory], but you have to take it now.’ We put in our application for singles, we don’t want a double. We were offered an unfurnished double. We were told we could ask for a room change when the semester starts. My time was 11:45, by then my only options were in [East Campus]. I was in [the housing office] at 11:30 and my only options were in [East Campus],” said third-year liberal studies major Maria Quintero.
April 17, noon – Otters For Life statue unveiled
Many students were confused with the creation of the housing waitlist and desired clear communication regarding what their future living situation would look like. However, several administrators were preoccupied attending the unveiling of the Otters for Life statue, a ceremony that included two former CSUMB presidents, as well as current President Vanya Quinones.
Although the statue was paid for with money donated from campus alumni, several students expressed on social media that they saw it as a manifestation of their tuition being used for something they didn’t initially want – arguing that it should have gone to housing instead.
Thomas Larsen, a third-year marine science major, posted to MyRaft, “Cool so touching the statue will ‘guide you toward connection, community and belonging’ but what do I need to touch to guide me toward somewhere to live next semester?”
April 17, 2 p.m. – Housing waitlist created
Upperclassmen opening the housing portal to select their housing assignment reported they were met with a message saying that the website was undergoing a backend audit. This remained for hours before students were placed on a waitlist later that afternoon. Anecdotally, that list had hundreds of students on it.
“This is my first semester at CSUMB, and during orientation, we were told that we have a place here and that we belong. I believe that and would like to continue to [stay here], but it gets harder every day, [as] I watch an unmoving triple-digit waitlist. I did everything I was told to and as early as the housing system would let me. I’ve enjoyed this semester, but I am feeling more unsure if I will continue to belong here, or if I need to look at other options next semester. I hope I can continue to enjoy being a part of this community,” said Larsen.
April 25. 2:30 p.m. – Associated Students meeting
Associated Students (AS) ran their normally scheduled Friday meeting, where a public comment forum led to a long discussion around the topic of what communications housing did or did not have with students.
AS decided to forward a motion that would create a new student housing branch within AS starting next fall. The goal of this branch is to avoid miscommunication within housing from happening in the future. By Monday, the Associated Students Senate approved this motion.
April 28 – Otters for Life Statue vandalized
The words “Fix housing” were spray-painted across the Otters for Life statue’s base, accompanied by other profane messages about the statue regarding its cost (nearly $200,000) and housing director Cooper.
Around 8:30 a.m., Quinones sent an email to the campus community stating that this action doesn’t reflect CSUMB’s values of respectful communication. Campus response to the act of protest was mixed. Some thought it was a justified act of student resistance, others saw it as a poor reflection on the student body.
Ashley Clevenger posted to MyRaft, “Noted: quite curious how quickly defacement of our otter statue was both addressed and resolved by our university, yet those who were finally meant to get housing priority for their final year still don’t have answers. *Sigh* can we do better together, please?”
May 1, 9:47 a.m. – Waitlist movement
Waitlisted students receive an email from SHRL informing them that they “have been able to identify spaces for a significant number of students on the waitlist who will be contacted within the coming weeks.” In the days following, more students receive a follow-up email with their housing assignment.
What was intended to be a stress-free solution stirred upperclassmen, as some received notice that they would be spending their next (or last) academic year in freshman dorms.
“I lived in dorms in my community college. I lived in dorms for two years. I thought I was done with that,” said third-year kinesiology major Bailey Costa. “I love working on campus and I love working at the OSU and I love working for orientation leadership. And I would love to live on campus because, I mean if I’m working here, I might as well live here, and usually people who work here get to live here.”
May 1, noon – Housing protest
An Instagram post calling for students to protest in front of the housing office is reposted by the well-known CSUMB student media account @crumbuniversity, gaining nearly 600 likes.
Coinciding with the start of Otter Thursday, a small group of roughly a dozen students gathered with signs expressing their discontent, one of which reading, “Don’t make false promises! Stop promoting housing you don’t have.”
Quinones tries to speak to some students but appears to be waved off. A member of the campus communications staff speaks with individual students in protest, trying to document their concerns.
May 5 – Last town hall meeting of the year
Cooper makes his first appearance since the applications first opened a few weeks prior at the final AS Town Hall Senate meeting of the year. Students’ questions are regarding where the additional beds that emptied the waiting list came from, if the beds were taken from other students, if SDAC accommodations would be met and who to communicate with if issues remain unanswered.
In response, Cooper states, “We spent time over the last weeks analyzing spaces we had and were ultimately just able to find the space. We are doing our best to make sure everyone is supported. Students declining [their housing assignment] will be on a holding list and after new students are resolved, those on the holding list will be taken care of afterwards.” The question around how the remainder of the waitlist is being dealt with was met by some surprise as Cooper expressed he believed all students on the waitlist had been assigned.
Cooper emphasized the idea that obtaining housing was never a guarantee for returning students, an idea he’s surprised isn’t widely known and accepted by the campus community.
“There is something leading students to perceive that, but we have never guaranteed that.
In the past we have been able to do this, however enrollment is increasing and it is not possible. Enrollment increasing is good and adds value to your degree. We are facing a significant increase from before and especially during and right after COVID… [to shrink the miscommunication we plan to] casually reinforce how that works through things like tours and orientation.”
He closed out his time by encouraging students to reach out to him and SHRL via email for further communication.
Looking to the future
Students are not just struggling with housing in the fall. Students waiting to hear back about their summer housing placements are scrambling to find out if they need to move urgently or if they can live at school this summer.
“I’m still waiting to find out what is happening for summer housing. I made sure to apply the first day it was available back in February, and have yet to hear back. Other than to be told that there is a two-week window we all must move out between this semester and summer, and that the extension request is already closed,” shared Amanda Ramsier, a third-year humanities and communication major.
“I work in sustainability and as an [orientation leader], so I’m hoping I can rent an AirBnB, because I still have to work here [on campus] or if all else fails, I guess sleep in my car? It is what it is. It’s definitely been stressful, I feel like the school is putting the students in a position of homelessness. Not just for these few weeks of summer but next semester too,” said Ramsier. “I think a lot of people in administration are under the assumption that if students don’t get housing they will just move back home with their parents, or they will just figure it out, it’s not their responsibility to house us. I moved out here with everything I own and no family nearby. So I assumed being a transfer and seeing how empty Prom[ontory] was this year, continuing my housing here wouldn’t be an issue. Communication on the higher enrollment prior to us turning in our applications would have been great.”