Housing crisis greets students as they arrive

Many Clark Atlanta University students who thought they’d secured housing were without dorms Monday night, two days before the fall semester begins.

The university said students were informed about the housing process and timelines back in May.

“They’re saying that there’s no housing available and that everyonewill have to resort to offffffffffff-campus housing, which is a problem,” student Kerrington Griffifin told Channel 2 Actions News reporter Rikki Klaus on Monday. The station, which received photos and video showing crowded lines at the student center, said about 150 students were awaiting information this week.

Students who haven’t completed the “fifinancial enrollment process are being offffffffffffered temporary housing while they complete the process,” according to a statement sent to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday. A spokesman did not immediately answer questions about where the temporary housing is, or howmany students require it.

CAU requires and provides on-campus housing for freshmen and sophomores — exceptions withstanding — and has housing available for upperclassmen.

The Offiffice of Student Services and Campus Life, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is “working diligentlywith students to complete their fifinancial enrollment process,” the statement said.