Plan to Host Tent City on UW Campus Controversial

By Andrew at June 1st, 2009.

A graduate school program at the University of Washington is making an effort to bring a homeless encampment of approximately 100 people to the Seattle Campus. Tent City III as it is called, moves around to different locations in Seattle every 90 days or so. These students have requested Tent City III to come to the campus, and student and faculty organizations have voted in favor of the measure.

Student groups have organized on Facebook, both supporting and opposing the proposal. Over 2300 students have joined a group that opposes the proposal, found here. The discussion boards have been filled with hundreds of comments from people on both sides. The group opposed to the proposal also voiced their concerns in the video at the bottom of this post.

The proposal has generated a buzz on the campus, with over 3 cover stories published about it in the school’s newspaper in the last few weeks. At a townhall meeting with the school’s Provost, students addressed their concerns and their thoughts both supporting and opposing the measure. The school had no comment on the matter, other than to say that they are aware of the situation and are looking into it.

In any case, this raises questions about how a community should respond to the problem of homelessness, and if a public university is an appropriate venue for a homeless encampment.

Editor’s Note: What do you think? Is having a homeless encampment on a publicly-funded university campus a good idea? Respond in the comments.

Tags: featured, Nickelsville, Seattle, University of Washington, Washington