UCSC parenting students tell Regents rent hikes and new lease language exclude families and deepen housing burden
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Summary
A long public comment from the newly elected UCGPC president and UCSC student leaders described steep rent increases, new family-housing lease language that restricts access, and called for emergency and structural responses from UC leadership.
Stephanie Valadez, the newly elected president of the UC Graduate and Professional Council and a PhD student, used public comment on July 17 to deliver detailed testimony about housing cost spikes, family housing lease language, and the effects on parenting and family students at UC Santa Cruz.
Valadez said the UCSC family student housing rent increase is 32% and that new lease terms narrow the definition of "family," excluding many caregiving households including some LGBTQ+ partnerships, households with teenage children, and students caring for elderly parents or disabled siblings. She described a personal experience during a police raid on a campus encampment and said UCSC's handling endangered her children and exemplified what she called the university's failure to protect families.
Valadez urged Regents to provide immediate financial supports for parenting students, including 12 months of additional financial support for impacted families and use of discretionary funds (she specifically cited the $10,000,000 strategic priorities fund available in May 2025) as a bridge while longer-term solutions are developed. She also asked the Regents to create systemwide oversight of lease language to prevent discriminatory or exclusionary definitions of family from being adopted campus by campus.
Valadez requested three concrete steps: (1) provide 12 months of additional financial support for students with families affected by rent hikes; (2) create systemwide oversight of lease language to prevent exclusionary terms; and (3) re-center capital planning on student well-being, indigenous voices and environmental stewardship. She said campus-specific review is underway at UCSC but asked for systemwide attention and support.
Regents listened and thanked Valadez for the detailed testimony. No formal action or funding commitment was made at the July 17 meeting; presenters asked for rapid follow-up, oversight of lease language and emergency assistance.