Students living in The Aston will receive a $250 housing credit because of issues like water outages and security concerns, officials told residents in an email Thursday.
Officials said the building experienced maintenance issues “a bit more than usual” this academic year, and the housing credit would be applied to residents’ student accounts within two to three business days, according to a post on the “Overheard at GW” Facebook group. The email acknowledges various issues in the building, including water outages and repeated lapses in security that allowed non-GW affiliated people to access residential floors of the building.
An increased strain on the building’s older plumbing system is partially to blame for the increase of issues, according to the email officials sent to students.
“We recognize there have been other challenges not addressed here throughout the year that have caused frustration and intermittent disruptions that may be affecting your overall living experience,” they said in the email.
Melissa Schwab, a senior and resident of The Aston who made the Facebook post, said in the post that her closet flooded over spring break, her air conditioning unit malfunctioned last summer and she was temporarily stuck in an Aston elevator earlier this week because of a door jam. She said she decided to live in The Aston because it offered cheaper housing costs compared to other residence halls, but she is “frustrated” with the living conditions.
“Many of the other students in this building come from marginalized backgrounds in our GW community and also chose this building due to its low cost,” Schwab said. “It feels like our concerns are ignored because we don’t live in the $20,000 a year housing options located on campus.”
Schwab said residents of The Aston sent officials an email outlining their concerns with the building’s living conditions earlier this week, which led to officials’ response and the University’s decision to grant them a housing credit.
“A $250 housing credit is a good start, but we should not have to petition our University en masse to stop acting like a slumlord,” she said.
