Jaylynn Moffat-Mowatt, junior multimedia journalism major was given housing one month after being placed on Morgan State’s housing waitlist. After several weeks without a room, her parents inquired about their child’s housing status and were told the university did not have any space.

“My mother had to threaten to sue before they took initiative,” Moffat-Mowatt said. “After the warning, they immediately moved me into Morgan View but the room was infested with mold.” 

Morgan issued students a housing assignment waitlist due to the lack of vacant spaces, a temporary resolution the campus has seen in the past.

Maiyaesha Spratley, the manager of assignments within the Office of Residence Life said the students’ chance to get off the waitlist and into a housing assignment is based on when they completed the waitlist application and their grade point average.

“If it was an honor student, we would try to honor that by placing them in an honors dorm,” Sprately said. “If there isn’t space in the common dorm, students with lower grade point averages could be placed in an honors dorm.”

This year’s waitlisted students were forced into alternative housing off-campus such as HH Midtown, an apartment complex located downtown. Upperclassmen have also been assigned to Blount Towers, Morgan’s traditionally all-female freshman dorm.

The lack of housing space has been a concern since 2017 when students were forced into neighboring hotels, forced to bunk with friends and lived at home until space was made available. Last year, the Spokesman reported the university’s temporary fix included more beds, the addition to off-campus housing listings and the construction of an on-campus dormitory complex.

Two years later, space continues to rank as a major concern as Morgan opens its arms to more first-year students.

Anyae Stanfield, senior multi-production major said she was placed into Harper-Tubman well after the fall semester began.

“I was on the waitlist for the whole month of August. I got housing the last week of that month with no complications,” Stanfield said.