Alumni and former students have joined the effort to demand accountability from Murray State University following last weekend’s power outage that displaced nearly 700 students.
The petition to “Demand Accountability for Murray State University’s Negligent Infrastructure” following the recent power outage continues to gain support, with over 1,600 signatures in the past five days.
“I am absolutely disgusted by my alma mater’s negligence in catering to the health and safety needs of its current students,” wrote Murray State alumni and signer James. “As a graduate of the University and a resident of Murray, it is deeply embarrassing for me to be associated with a university that would so massively misalign itself in this regard. Every student that had to spend money on a hotel room should be reimbursed every penny they spent on housing and food while dealing with MSU’s gross negligence.”
For some former students, Murray State’s history of negligence during emergency situations caused them to transfer schools.
“MSU housing negligence was a factor in my ultimate decision to leave the University,” wrote signer A. “Just over a year ago, students went without heat during the big snow storm. MSU did nothing to provide temporary heat to students. Even a heated blanket would’ve helped.”
“I was at MSU from 07’ to 13’ and the ice storm of 08’ was so bad and unorganized,” wrote alumni and signer Wyota. “I was lucky I didn’t live far so I could stay home the rest of the week but some (students) resorted to staying in Lovett Auditorium.”
Former students have also expressed that Murray State’s neglect of caring for dorm issues efficiently is a longstanding pattern.
Signer and former student Timothy transferred due to several factors, including issues with academic department leadership and failure from Facilities Management to address issues in dorm buildings.
“Every time I turned on water I would have to deal with weird gunk coming out of the pipes meaning it would take an extra 25 minutes for any faucet to stop spraying the weird orange stuff which smelled awful,” Timothy wrote. “Honestly living on campus felt like a prison.”
“I attended Murray State last year and while I was staying in Lizzo, I would constantly see water leaking from the ceiling,” wrote signer and former student Anika. “In January 2024, there was no heat for about two weeks.
While many students listed issues with Housing and Facilities Management, some students say they feel this issue is being caused at the highest level.
“I lived in Regents for a year, spent most of that time without heating or air in my room despite filing multiple work orders,” wrote signer David. “Frankly, I feel bad for RAs, RDs, and Housing Office staff. They are being led by a totally incompetent administration which loves to take money through tuition, housing fees, and ‘Racer Experience’ fees, and then does not provide (them) with anything to do their jobs. Where is the money going? How can we afford to renovate the CFSB Center, build a new nursing building, and create a park next to Waterfield (which I have never seen used for anything), and not provide for the most basic requirements for the students? Frankly, I am grateful to not be living on campus anymore. My heart goes out to all students and staff who are being totally mistreated by this school’s administration.”
Some signers are calling for housing to be made a higher priority for the University.
“If they haven’t been already, all of the residential halls need to be renovated or an entire new building needs to be built,” wrote signer Cory. “The university also needs to update and add generators to ALL buildings on campus!”
Murray State has been attempting to build new student housing since as early as 2021, when the University hired Brailsford & Dunlavey, a program management firm, to assist in the process, according to a 2021 article from the Murray Ledger and Times. In that article, the firm’s executive vice president, Jeff Turner, said “high-quality student housing is important because students who live on campus are statistically more likely to succeed academically.”
In 2022, Jackie Dudley, vice president of finance and administrative services, said the University’s plan to upgrade campus housing would include tearing down RH White and Regents halls.
In December of 2022, the University halted its plans for new housing construction due to inflation and labor shortages.
Despite RH White and Regents halls reaching a point where the University plans to tear them down, that hasn’t stopped the placement of students there or slowed recruitment efforts for new students until the University can construct newer housing options. In fact, 2024 saw the fourth largest freshman class in University history, and the second largest in the past decade.
While the University purchased Station Seventy Four, an apartment complex just off campus, in June of 2024 for additional housing, Station can only house around 270 students. Combined, Regents and RH White can house over 700.
The University has yet to announce concrete plans for any upcoming residential construction projects.
For students currently living on campus, their complaints have joined those of the former students who came before them.
“Due to the lack of communication and time it took to figure out what was going on, my medicine, required to keep me alive, expired without the fridge,” wrote signer Cheyanne.
Students and parents alike have voiced frustration with the lack of communication surrounding the relocation of RH White and Regents residents. Some students with empty beds in their rooms received no notification that they would be assigned a temporary roommate except an email stating it could be a possibility.
“I found out the power was out on Saturday morning and decided to go home for the weekend because of the lack of hot water/electricity,” wrote signer La’Gina. “When I came back to my dorm on Sunday, I came back to my room totally rearranged without any note about anyone being in my room. I am in a room by myself because I never received a roommate. Why did they not inform me they were going to come in my room and go through my things? They have my information for a reason, they should use it.”
Signer Heather has a daughter attending Murray State who had a private room after her roommate moved out.
“(My daughter) got back to campus late Monday night to find someone in her room,” Heather wrote. “She was unaware she had been assigned a temporary roommate and she felt like her personal space was invaded. The other student was very uncomfortable as well being in someone’s space unannounced. The lack of communication from the school is to blame. Apparently they were giving the displaced students an email for the person they were going to stay with, but she never received my daughter’s email and had no way to communicate with her.”
Signer and commuter student Carol criticized the University’s communication skills for how they have affected students living on campus.
“(University administrators) still have the backwards attitude that they should keep students in the dark. MSU needs to get with the 21st century,” Carol wrote. “I stand with the other students who have been displaced, lost study time, lost money, (and with parents who) had to fork out more money to put (their children) up in hotels.”
As awareness of the power outage grows, so does people’s concern.
“As an alumni (of) MSU, I’m appalled to hear of Murray State’s treatment of students at this time,” wrote signer Christopher. “Murray State should address these issues with immediate plans of actions. If not, there should be (an) investigation into any illegal negligence as a result of Murray State’s accused actions.”
In a campus update email sent today, administrators said they expect RH White and Regents halls to regain power on Feb. 23.
The petition can be found at: https://www.change.org/p/demand-accountability-for-murray-state-university-s-negligent-infrastructure.
