Earlier this semester students expressed their dissatisfaction with conditions in the residence halls through an anonymous Instagram account. The account included pictures of mold, mildew, roaches broken lights and broken ceilings and other problems they encounter. The account got the attention of administration leading to meetings and improvements.

Many students expressed their pride in the fact that students found their voice and raised the complaints.

“I was intrigued and excited to hear that someone was actually  trying to make a difference.” sophomore Xavier Aguilar said.

“It is about time that we actually stood up for ourselves and actually have a voice. I have been here for 4 years and everybody always complains but nobody wants to take actions behind it. Now we have a voice and a stand on what we are complaining about. I believe the university has to credit what happened because our motto is ‘one team, one family, one Averett.’ With this Instagram post I have seen Averett becoming that more. It is unifying the students,” senior Isaiah Howard said.

Students feel that some of the issues revealed by the Instagram posts were not new issues but ones the university should have been aware of.

“Averett has this tendency of making promises that are never being kept,” Aguilar said .

The whole Instagram page controversy went as far as being featured on local TV news stations and on the  GoDanRiver website.

The issues were discussed in open forum meetings with questions being raised about where tuition money is going, why issues were being blamed on the storm damage that existed prior to the storm and why top level administrators like President Franks were not present at the forum. Franks has since met with student leaders and issued a statement to the student body.

Still, the students want to make sure that the solutions to the problems are permanent rather than one-time fixes.

“Our school tries to pride itself on the traditions of taking care of the outside of the campus such as the beautification team and what they do for the grounds and we keep on putting band aids on something that needs stitches,” Jordan Jones said.

“Also, we get blamed a lot for a lot of the issues that are going on with housing, they said that we are not reporting enough or not reporting at all but if you go to Res Life they can pull out the receipts,” Ronisha Dunlap, RA in the apartments, said.

It is evident that the students are determined to do whatever it takes to not only be heard but also to bring a change to their university, their home.  The university has responded with changes and promises. Students, who have now found their voices, will wait to see how those promises are being kept.