Protestors mobilized at Viterbi today and marched throughout campus to Bovard Auditorium. They called attention to the increasing presence of wealthy investors building and buying homes at the expense of local residence.
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, or ACCE, led the protest. Sergio Vargas is the co-director of ACCE.
Sergio Vargas: They’re building this three, four story buildings where they’re charging $1,000 per bed, which is unfair for the students. It’s unfair for the community. And it’s created a lot of chaos for our people, our folks are being taken out of their communities so they can make space for students who are going to come here are going to be here for maybe three months, six months, a year, and they’re going to be gone. They truly do not care about this area and the historic community that has been here for years.
Community member Angjila Jimenez shares her personal experience with investors attempting to buy her home. Jimenez spoke via a translator.
Angilia Jimenez: Here’s money take my million dollars so you can get out and we can build. And even though how many times she says no, they keep coming back and now it’s becoming a harassment. And that’s something that a lot of homeowners are suffering around this place this constant nonstop. You know, harassment from those wealthy investors who want to buy those houses and then tearing down without even letting the community know and building up these buildings that make no sense within this community.
The Los Angeles Times Reported that although USC has no affiliation with these private developers, they have partnered with the website “Off Campus Housing 101″, that lists community rentals.
USC Junior majoring in Business Administration, Risa Takemoto, shares the same sentiments as the protestors.
Risa Takemoto: I think USC has not done their best at trying to be more inclusive and to integrate the South Central Community, I think, especially with after they built the village in 2017, when they could have opened up the shops to be more inclusive to the community. It’s obviously like, they’re opening like Sunlife and Trader Joe’s and target, which is like, for a specific demographic of people. And I think they can do a better job at integrating the South Central Community since they have been the cause of a lot of the gentrification around South Central.
On the other hand, some students like Ben Meyers, a sophomore majoring in Business and Computer Programming, believes that the university’s role in the housing issue has been more positive.
Ben Meyers: As someone who lives off campus, I feel like USC has set up like a nice, symbiotic relationship with the, you know, the yellow jackets, making sure everyone’s safe. And I definitely worried about my safety sometimes being off campus, but being in the USC bubble, so to speak, I feel I still feel pretty good. I think we should definitely listen to the protesters in you know, like an actual discussion like a sit-down talk, and I think we should always hear their input. But I also think that USC has the right to want to keep their students safe as long as it’s not harming other people.
In a flyer titled “30-day eviction notice”, protestors listed their demands, which included recognition for the pre-existing community’s local architecture, culture, and economics. They also asked for the support for policies and planning initiatives that preserve housing and communities, and to practice a zero tolerance for displacement.
From Annenberg Media, I’m Ye Ji Jong.