by the Save Maguire/UVS Coalition
In case you did not hear, historic Maguire Village and University Village South are still on the chopping block next year, and we desperately need your help to change that.
This peaceful community of 348 on-campus apartment homes for graduate students and their families at the University of Florida have been facing the looming threat of demolition since 2020 when cruel UF Housing administrators pushed for their complete annihilation in the UF Campus Master Plan update.
To get approval, they lied to committees, to local government officials, and to the Board of Trustees, and continue to break their promises. There currently is no plan for replacement, no plan to reinvest in future graduate housing, no plan to increase stipends to offset higher housing costs incurred, and no plan to honor this historic place that tens of thousands of people have called home for generations.
Despite numerous requests, UF failed to readdress this issue at all in 2022. We painted a huge SW 34th St. wall mural and got news coverage, but still no response. UF still has never addressed the issue on its own, and never publicly considered the merits of maintaining these 44 livable, affordable, two-story brick buildings and the 27 acres of lush trees they make up.
UF’s current plan calls for turning that area into a parking lot and practice recreation field, not because they are needed, but because our housing is so undervalued to them they’d simply rather tear it down.
What UF Housing is doing amounts to cultural genocide (as they are literally destroying our community and way of life and endangering our lives, such as by using our buildings for COVID quarantining without telling us), and they need to be held accountable.
This Fall semester, we are looking to expand our push to get UF to change its plan by mounting external pressure and making this a national issue. To do so, we need the support of student clubs, local non-profits, business leaders, professors, and anyone who’d like to say “NO” to this awful plan.
We also need volunteers who are artists, journalists, social media experts, fundraising experts, or community organizers to help our campaign to bring more attention to our plight. If you think you can help, please contact SaveUFGradHousing@gmail.com to join our efforts, and visit SaveUFGradHousing.com to learn more and to sign our petition.