Impending Tech Village renovation speculated to displace students

Tech Village residents on the east side will be forced to find a new place to live starting June 1 due to renovations. Many of the students living in Tech Village are international students, here on a stipend from their country. The renovation will occur in three phases: east, middle and west. Each will take a year to complete.The renovation was brought about by the Tennessee Safety Department determining the apartments were not safe. This renovation is also allowing Tech to make Tech Village more energy efficient, which will raise the price of Tech Village.

"The rumor that I heard is that they are going to double the price of Tech Village," said Charlie Wilkerson, International Students Affairs director, "which I think is just crazy. You know, who can afford to pay $600 for [Tech Village]."

"I don't know all the details yet. A lot of it is just hear-say," said Wilkerson.

Lazarus Uzoechi, president of the African Student Union and doctoral student of electrical engineering said, "If it's doubled, I don't think I could afford it. I don't think any of the international students could afford it."

"If things are looked at just increasing rentage without looking at what the international students have, it's likely to compel some of the international students to leave these environments. So, I think, rightfully, that is supposed to be a concern of their office. So it's a general problem. Whether international student or citizens, everybody is concerned about what will be the outcome," Uzeochi said.

In December Uzoechi received a memo clarifying a lot of the confusion; it let students know they have the choice to stay in Tech Village or move elsewhere.

We have four categories of international students at Tech: exchange students and research scholars, graduate students, permanent residents and refugees, and international students that came to the U.S. on a student visa.

Tech students who are on student visas are not allowed to work, so they cannot make extra money to cover the rising cost of Tech Village. Out of the 575 international students at Tech four-fifths stay year-round.

There have been meetings to keep Tech Village residents informed. Some of the residents have been showing apprehension and concern about the renovation and being displaced.

"Initially, there was a misunderstanding of what it was all about," Uzoechi said. "I believe the effort made by, especially by Richard Barns, the assistant director of Residential Life made the effort to be sure that everybody was informed about what was going on.

Wilkerson stated, "It'll be a speed bump in the road, and then they'll [the students] just go right on.