The University of New Mexico has released plans for a new solution to affordable housing for graduate students off campus – underground tunnels.
Recently, graduate students at UNM have voiced concerns about a lack of student housing. Anita Knapp, a representative for the United Graduate Workers of UNM, said that the uncertainty of housing has made her experience in graduate work strange and difficult.
“I’ve been living off of medical experiments for three months, so I could move into the tunnels, but I have since started to grow purple hair and extra appendages,” Knapp said.
Starting at a rate of $10,000, less than the typical cost of off-the-grid motorhome living, UNM has relocated grads living on campus to open floor plan apartments located in underground tunnels surrounding UNM, according to the University’s press release.
These tunnels house anywhere from 100 to 300 students, depending on how many of their belongings they plan to keep in their new homes, according to the University's press release. Conditions are packed and terrible, Knapp said.
Students are given a bed frame, a safe and a lamp, free of charge. Mattresses must be provided by students. Each bed is separated by a curtain, giving students the peace and privacy they need during their careers through graduate school, according to the lead developer of the Graduate Tunnel Project, Ritch Kid.
Knapp says that her apartment came with beautiful, colorful decor.
“I mean, at least the graffiti is fun,” Knapp said.
While the tunnels may not receive any heating or cooling elements, nor plumbing, gas or electricity, they are the solution to a problem – the end of a decade-long silent treatment between the University admin and grad students.
“Students should finally feel seen”, President Garrett Stokes wrote in a press release commenting on the broken silent treatment.
In a statement to the press last week, Kid said he wants grad students to know that their futures and best interests are always in mind and that there is no reason to slow down – encouraging students to fill their schedules and aim high.
“Graduate work really can’t be that hard,” Kid said.
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Due to rapidly increasing enrollment numbers, students should plan to sign up for underground tunnel housing as soon as they get the chance, according to Kid.
“We can try to fit as many people as possible down there, but once it’s full, it’s full. Students will have to figure it out on their own,” Kid said.
Though this project was developed as an attempt to take some of the weight off the shoulders of graduate students, the funding came from an internal source, according to Kid.
“This project has been fully funded by borrowing a few bucks here and there from UNM staff,” Kid said. “We’re pretty sure they won’t notice.”
The tunnels are set to open up for the next semester and will be first come, first serve. The silent treatment is now to be reinstated, according to Stokes' press release.
“Complaints that are out of sight and earshot are complaints that are out of mind,” Stokes wrote.
Sadie Hopkins is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com
