An op-ed titled “Tearing down Stanford right now was a costly mistake” appeared in The Miami Hurricane on August 20. It discussed the difficulties in the on-campus housing application process, but it misrepresented some information.
TMH always strives to be fully accurate and acknowledges its ethical responsibility to fully correct any errors. However, the newspaper often relies on collaboration and information from University of Miami authorities. In this case, despite a full week’s notice and attempts to contact three members of the staff of the Housing and Residential Life department and a media request to University Communications, TMH received no response. Only after the opinion piece was published did TMH receive additional information and clarifications.
The following are clarifications and corrections to the op-ed piece:
- Comments on the piece received from the Student Affairs department argue that, despite COVID-related disruptions in the construction timeline, the demolition of the Hecht building in 2022 did not lead to a real decline in on-campus beds because Lakeside Village had previously added more beds than were lost.
- The op-ed asserted that housing prices increased the year after Hecht was torn down. Student Affairs says “the housing rate increases were one of the lowest in decades with an overall blended increase of 1.9%.”
- The op-ed highlighted the large difference between the cost of a double in the Stanford and Hecht dorms and a similar room in Centennial Village. While a significant difference does exist, the op-ed understated the cost of doubles in the old dorm. TMH regrets the error.
- The op-ed claimed that the demolition of the dorms led to freshmen living in THesis. Student Affairs says that is not the case and that “NO freshmen” lived in the hotel. To clarify, on-campus housing has been provided to all incoming first-year students who were admitted in the fall of each year. The University only requires “fall” freshmen to live on campus and only guarantees housing to them. Freshmen admitted for the spring semester are not guaranteed on-campus housing, nor are they required to live on campus. Some of those “spring” freshmen did live in THesis in the 2024 spring semester.
- The published op-ed suggested that UM host events or mixers at THesis. According to admin, there is a THesis RA that is part of Lakeside Village staff, and THesis residents are encouraged to attend events in Lakeside.