On July 18, six students marched into the office of Chatham University President Rhonda Phillips to deliver her a list of demands.
Dr. Phillips was not present, but graduate student Lindsey Disler, Owen Duthoy ‘26, Florence Lang ‘26, E Kelley ‘25 and Halsey Hyer ‘24 took turns reading the list of demands to her chief of staff Patsy Kraeger. This group, joined by Memuna Bayoh ‘24, is part of Chatham Students United (CSU). It was formed in early July by students living at Orchard Hall after the sudden announcement of the closure of the only housing option available at Eden Hall.
“Chatham Students United represents a group of students coming together, and working also with alumni, parents and organizing to make our university a better place that actually serves us,” Disler told the Communiqué after the reading ended. “Because clearly, what’s in place right now isn’t isn’t doing it.”
CSU left a copy of the demands for Dr. Phillips, along with a copy of the change.org petition created by students to try to save Orchard Hall. The petition has over 1,000 signatures as of July 18.
The reading began with Disler claiming the University is making the Orchard Hall residents “homeless” and saying these changes will have “a profound impact on our educational experience.”
A big focus of the demands revolved around the University’s Board of Trustees.
“We have watched Chatham’s Board of Trustees make decisions about us without us, and for reasons not clearly communicated to the wider population,” Disler read from the demands.
The group spoke for 13 minutes and highlighted three main areas in their demands: transparency, housing and negotiation.
Transparency
The first point read in the President’s office demanded increased transparency from the University’s Board of Trustees.
“We demand to know how the decision to close Orchard Hall residence was made, including which variables were taken into account and what the deciding factors were for the Board,” Duthoy read from the demands. “We demand the respect and courtesy as paying students to be informed of all student experience and all other subjects which directly affect the students.”
Duthoy went on to list other instances of increased Board of Trustees openness in two private universities, Carnegie Mellon University and Bucknell University, urging Chatham to consider similar measures of openness with students.
These measures include opening up the business portion of the Board of Trustees meetings, and making the voting records on financial matters open to the public.
Housing
The second demand is for Orchard Hall to be kept open for the 2024-25 academic year. The group also demands that the building stay open until a clear plan is in place for the future of Orchard Hall. There is currently no public plan for the building once students leave.
According to a source from Residence Life, 38 students planned to live at Orchard Hall in the upcoming fall semester. CSU described the difficulties those students will face now. According to CSU, the Orchard Hall closure will impact student schedules on Eden Hall’s campus, employment opportunities, contracts for Residential Assistants, housing affordability and the elimination of the living-learning environment.
Negotiation
CSU demands a list of dates from the administration by Aug. 1 to meet and negotiate with University representatives regarding the housing and transparency issues previously mentioned.
Due to Orchard Hall being only one of two American with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant residence halls, CSU wants investment in housing on all campuses in order to make Chatham more ADA-compliant.
CSU is seeking for equitable housing to be provided to students planning to live at Orchard Hall, because the price to live at other residential halls is about twice the cost compared to Orchard Hall. Below lists the prices for on-campus housing in the 2023-24 academic year.
Shadyside campus:
Multiple occupancy rooms- $3,224 to $3,558 per term
Single room- $3,451 to $3558 per term
Apartments- $2,956 to $3,866 per term
Orchard Hall:
Single room- $1,490 per term
Two-person suite- $1,574 per term
CSU wants students to have more of a stake in the negotiation process and in decisions the University makes.
Closing thoughts
The demands ended with Hyer reading that the group wants to “follow in the footsteps of alumna Rachel Carson, who raised her voice to question and challenge the decisions and actions of those in power.”
They added that CSU is advocating on behalf of the future of Chatham.
“We love this university immensely, and we are determined to uphold its values to pass them and this institution onto future generations of students,” the demands read. “We chose Chatham because of its history and values, which we will fight to protect.”
Hyer ended the reading of demands by giving the University until July 31 to respond.
“If the Board of Trustees does not take these steps to work with us, it will force us to take action to ensure the voices of the Chatham community are heard. We look forward to your response,” they said.
The Communiqué has reached out to the University for comment and is waiting for a reply.
