Alyssa Ramirez-Tijero started documenting her up-hill battle with Cal State Monterey Bay’s (CSUMB) Student Housing and Residential Life department on TikTok back in June. Over 57,000 views later and her story still isn’t over.
Tijero has taken TikTok by storm in the past months due to the popularity of her storytime videos; each detailing her experiences with housing as well as the school’s responses to issues Tijero took to them.
From her request for family housing not being accommodated, to being double charged for student housing, Tijero had plenty to talk about. Engaging in an ongoing back and forth with on-campus housing and personnel drove her to share her story with a larger audience.
“Just even having, like, over 6,000 [views] right now, I’m already at 45, 40K [views], I was like, ‘what the f**k?’ I didn’t expect that to happen on just one video, on one TikTok,” said Tijero.
Tijero transferred to CSUMB in January 2024 and was assigned housing in East Campus with her roommates already occupying the space. Her TikTok videos note specific issues with her housing including pre-existing damages in her apartment, an alleged break-in not addressed properly by University Police and her request for family housing – she was pregnant at the time – being denied, amongst other issues. Apart from social media, Tijero has also produced a Google Doc detailing a timeline of the incidents and communication with student housing throughout her time at CSUMB. “I was making this document when I was pregnant and literally being kicked out…” said Tijero. According to Tijero, she sent this document to multiple university personnel but has not been contacted since. “They don’t want to help me. They’re not trying to help me. The president, the deans, like those two people are the two people that have not, like, been in contact with me at all. And I sent in my document, I forwarded emails to them, I CC’d them. They’re the only people that’s like, they’re just not there,” said Tijero.
A university spokesman said the school cannot share specific details about an individual student’s situation due to privacy laws.
The spokesperson did say, “Students with concerns or issues around housing are directed to work with the Student Housing and Residential Life Office and the Dean of Students to ensure they are in compliance with all campus policies and have completed housing applications and other documents properly for each year they apply for housing. If a student has a concern related to Title IX, discrimination, harassment, retaliation or other conduct of concern, they should report it through our Report a Conduct of Concern/Discrimination link on the university website.”
Tijero’s videos have sparked conversation in her comment sections, with many people sharing their own experiences with college housing, CSUMB or otherwise. With the support and engagement though, Tijero has also become a controversial figure, with TikTok users leaving hate comments – some discrediting Tijero’s stories.
“A lot of the negative comments that just have no awareness or are just rude in general, I’ve removed,” said Tijero. In recent weeks, online hate comments manifested to physical gestures. Tijero said an anonymous individual sent empty luggage to her front door in East Campus, insinuating she should pack up and leave.
Tijero’s stories notably continue to be shared and viewed on TikTok long after their releases, with many of her other videos still standing with more than 1,000 views each and her most popular video having over 57,000 views and counting.
“Something I would want to say to students is speak up,” said Tijero. “I know we’re all used to these systems, and we’re so used to surviving. That doesn’t mean we need to continue to live like this… But I guess to the administration, is just do better, but they’re not.”