On Aug. 8, Auburn University announced the closing of Cambridge Hall due to a water intrusion during a recent storm.
Students prepared to move into the dorm are now left without housing and must search to find living arrangements elsewhere.
While assessing the damage caused by the flooding, university officials noticed additional issues that cause the repair time to increase, making the students unable to move into the dorm for the year. The additional issue included mold in the building, due to Alabama's extreme heat and humidity, according to a representative of university housing.
"Despite around-the-clock work, our timeline for completing repairs did not allow us to guarantee that students would be able to move in without further disruption," said in a statement released by the university. "We didn't want to move them in mid-semester or have to readjust our timeline."
Cambridge Hall has been closed for the 2023-2024 academic year due to flooding and other repairs.
Students and their parents were notified of a delay in move-in on Aug. 2 that originally postponed move-in to Aug. 30. On Aug. 8, the university communicated to them that they would no longer be able to move in at all and that the building would be closed for the year.
The 305 freshmen students currently affected are being housed by Auburn at nearby hotels, offered transportation to campus via Tiger Transit and have access to an off-campus storage location.
There is no additional on-campus housing for the students to be moved to, so the students will have to find off-campus housing before their hotel tenure runs out Aug. 30.
"Property managers are aware of the situation and working with us to find vacancies," the statement said.
The university will be organizing a virtual off-campus housing fair to help connect students with housing options that work for them as well as coordinating a list of apartment vacancies on aub.ie/cambridgemovein.
Freshmen affected are also being given financial assistance including a $5,000 transition allowing in their eBill account, a full refund of their fall housing payment and an upgrade to their meal plans of five additional meal swipes and $50 additional dining dollars.
Auburn will continue to communicate with students as the process continues, and Auburn Cares is set to follow up with the freshmen in early September.
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Kristen is a senior majoring in journalism with a minor in business. She has been with The Plainsman since her freshman year serving as a sports writer, podcast editor and host, and most recently, operations managing editor. Carr is currently the editor in chief of The Auburn Plainsman.
Twitter: @kristencarrau
