"I want my student to live on campus. I paid for it," said Gary Conn of Concord.
Conn isn't happy with the email the family received. There isn't room for his son Sebastian, a sophomore, to return to the dorm where he lived last year. The university has run out of rooms because there has been an unexpected increase in the number of first year students, up by more than 1,300, and freshmen who live more than 30 miles away are mandated to live on campus. More students than can be accommodated; the university says it is a challenge.
"We are asking around 250 students who are returning to be located instead in a nearby hotel within walking distance or a light rail ride," said Pat Lopes Harris, the SJSU media relations director.
Conn says that won't work for his son if he wants to go to the library, the gym, or dining commons at night.
"He has to go on light rail? I'm not comfortable with that. I'm not happy with that," said Conn.
"It will definitely be more difficult. They will not be able to walk straight from their room onto campus," said Lopes Harris.
For some returning students it's not just the stress of grades and tests, it's also where to live. It's either accept the university's hotel accommodations or you are on your own, and the deadline is July 25th. You also can't checkout the hotel and the university can't give you one yet because they don't have one yet.
"We're still working on a contract," said Lopes Harris.
The other choice is to find an apartment on your own. This is freshman orientation week where new students are getting a first look at campus. They've stayed overnight in a dorm, but even some of them have been told not everything is guaranteed.
"Part of the reason that I was really excited to go to college was to be in the dorms and have the first year, freshman experience with all of the rest of the people in college and living off campus, it just wouldn't be the same," said Jacqueline Kolkebeck of Benicia.
