Welcome to the homepage of the University Apartments Residents' Action Committee (UARAC).
We are a group of residents who live in Hawkeye Court and Hawkeye Drive, the apartments provided by the University of Iowa. We organized the committee in March 2003 in response to annual rent increases without any corresponding improvements. Although we formed to advocate for the best interests of the tenants, we would also like to foster a welcoming community where residents and their children can develop lifelong friendships while pursuing their educational and career goals.
Feel free to browse our site, or come visit us! If you are a new resident, check out our Advice section. If you have any suggestions, questions, comments, or advice about the apartments, the UARAC, or the website, please EMAIL us.
UARAC Listserv and Discussion Board
Join our listserv for the latest UARAC updates, or to post your own announcements about the apartments: moving sales, moving help, request/offer rides.
UARAC Officers:
| Office | Name | Issues | |
| President | Jacob Wedemeyer | jakewede@hotmail.com | |
| Vice-President | Navdeep Sidhu | navdeep-sidhu@uiowa.edu | |
| Block Representative | Chaminda Hettige | Rent, Hawkeye Drive | |
| Block Representative | Lynette Stephenson | lmarsh1959@yahoo.com | Rent, Plan for New Apts |
| Block Representative | Ahmed Diallo | ahmed-diallo@uiowa.edu | Technology |
| Faculty Advisor | Prof. Phil Klein |
NEWS
1) At the March 2004 annual rent increase meeting, Residence Services announced plans to spend $500,000 to temporarily relocate the apartments office. The impetus for this move is the expansion of Kinnick Football Stadium into the adjacent tennis courts. New tennis courts will be built on the site of the current apartments office and tenants' garden plots. We are outraged that this money is coming out of the budget of University Apartments--not Athletics or Recreation Services. This will cost each tenant $60 per month, hidden in their rent bill. This is an underhanded way to pass the costs for a football stadium renovation on to low-income residents of University Apartments. At the same rent increase meeting, Residence Services Director Von Stange presented tenants with a choice to pay $30 extra per month for high speed internet access. Instead of using the $60 per month for the temporary office relocation, UARAC proposes installing internet for free and then cutting the rent by $30.
2) UI Residence Services has proposed demolishing all the apartments and rebuilding half. While we are pleased that there are plans for new apts, we believe that by reducing the number of units, the University of Iowa will be participating in community destruction and not community building. Hundreds of low-income and minority students will be displaced and then placed at the mercy of the predatory private housing market of Iowa City.
Updated: April 2004