For 400 AU students, dorm woes could tarnish freshman year

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Your freshman year of college is supposed to an exciting time, full of memories.

But starting the year off in a completely different environment than what you expected could add stress to your first year.

That’s what’ll be happening for 400 students at Augusta University who thought they’d be staying at Oak Hall.

A repair company and a whole team of workers are busy at Oak Hall, repairing dorms they thought would be damage-free by the start of the new school year.

But thanks to a water pipe break a few months ago, there are still issues with the building.

The university says it’s working “diligently to secure alternate housing arrangements for our incoming students who have been affected by this delay.”

The school says it wants to make their first-semester experience “as similar as possible to living on campus.”

This isn’t unfamiliar territory.

Students were in the same situation a year ago, but back then, mold grew at both Oak Hall and neighboring Elm Hall.

Those issues only impacted 30 students, delaying their move-in on campus by just a few days.

Then in March and April, a broken water pipe caused problems for six students.

Officials say additional areas of water damage were identified during the renovation process. Officials say the delay will ensure the residence hall meets the university’s expectations for the health, safety and campus life experience.

So now 400 students will spend their entire fall semester in off-campus housing.

The dorms are managed by a company called Corvias, which runs housing for the military and many universities.

Although it doesn’t handle the problematic housing at Fort Gordon, Corvias has been in hot water for mold at places like Fort Bragg, now known as Fort Liberty, as well as Fort Meade.

So moisture issues are not exactly new territory.

In addition to military contracts, Corvias has a lot of higher education contracts – most of them in Georgia. There are nine in all, including Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Augusta University.

The contracts for Georgia schools are very similar.

A big concern with military housing contracts – no matter the company – is the length of time.

The government signed 50-year contracts with more than a dozen companies.

So when problems started popping up, families were stuck.

Fast-forward to 2014, when these problems were not exactly a secret.

Still, leaders at the University System of Georgia inked a deal with Corvias for nine schools over the next 40 years.

It hasn’t been smooth sailing.

In 2019, Georgia State students complained of mold, and about 60 had to be relocated.

In 2020, Corvias was accused of pressuring schools to have students return during the pandemic so the company wouldn’t lose money.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Rashida Tlaib even sent a letter to Corvias’ management asking if it was putting “profits above public health” during the pandemic.

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