By Megan V. Williams
Wilmington, NC – Plans by UNC-Wilmington to build more on-campus housing have run into opposition from a group of students concerned about the environmental cost.
UNCW intends to break ground this spring on the third phase of an ongoing housing expansion, building four dorms and a parking garage on the parcel. The project could mean on-campus housing for more than 600 students in coming years.
But Science students started organizing in opposition to the project after learning in class that the longleaf pine forest they used for research could soon become student housing.
Student organizer Emily Fullerton says her group wants the university to move the project elsewhere on campus and possibly add a few more floors to reduce its footprint.
If we can get them to reassess the whole point of putting the environment ahead of our own needs. We can accommodate what we want while also accommodating for our environment.
But Vice Chancellor Paul Hosier says the university already conducted an exhaustive site selection before settling on this parcel. With academic buildings slated to replace some of the school's existing parking lots, Hosier says there aren't many places for UNCW to grow.
We feel we've covered all the bases in terms of analysis of where these units could go. If we've missed something and someone brings forward a great idea and the lightbulb goes on, 'Oh gee, we hadn't thought about this.' We'd certainly be open to that. But right now the decision is made.
Students have also started questioning the fate of the rest of UNCW's 170-acre on-campus forest. Organizers are petitioning the state legislature to place the land into a conservation easement, essentially taking it off the table for future development.
Hoseir says that while there currently aren't any other projects slated for the forest, the school can't set aside that much land.
I don't necessarily want to have those areas preserved forever, that is, unchanged and untouched, but to actually conserve the areas and use the natural resources we have on the campus for teaching, research, etc.
Whatever happens to this particular parcel, Fullerton has larger hopes for her movement at UNCW, which she transfered to from a school in Chicago.
In Chicago there's always someone picketing. There's always someone trying to save something. But here apparently the campus hasn't had a lot of outcry or student-led activism, she notes, If nothing else, if we don't save anything, at least let the students know that you do have a voice and you can speak out.
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Public meeting:
Wednesday, February 6th (tonight)
6:30 to 8:30 pm
Dobo Hall, room 134
UNCW campus
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Map of the Proposed Housing Site: