HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Six properties near Marshall University’s campus, including three fraternity houses, are being vacated due to safety concerns.
The university announced Tuesday it is working with the city of Huntington to support affected students. All six privately-owned properties are being closed following an emergency order from the Huntington Fire Marshal.
The residences were ordered closed after recent safety inspections by city and fire officials. Marshall University Vice President of Student Affairs Dr. Marcie Simms told MetroNews that the initial correspondence was vague.
“Last week, our office of Environmental Health and Safety received an email from the city that said that they had completed inspections in some of our houses, which included some of our fraternity houses,” Simms said. “We didn’t receive any reports: no details, no addresses; it just said, ‘we have concerns.'”
Simms noted that it is now an “unexpected and significant disruption” for the students who live in those houses. She said that safety and inspections are extremely important, but the timing was poor.
“Especially the houses that hold more than a single family,” Simms said. “But, at the same time, earlier in the summer, they agreed it would be much better for our students, it would allow time during the summer to make those corrections versus the beginning of school. We have expressed that concern, and they have agreed that, in the future, that will not be the way.”
Marshall is providing temporary accommodations to affected students and working to identify on-campus alternatives, as well as provide resources in partnership with DoubleTree by Hilton.
“So far, we are helping 40 students secure some temporary housing, with the hope that we’ll have some more answers about the future of their current houses or if we need to find more permanent housing,” Simms said. “So, we have contracted with the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Huntington. They have secured beds for people who want to move to those spaces.”
Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell echoed Simms’ sentiment about the timing being “disruptive.”
“I wish we would have caught this earlier,” Farrell said. “The primary job of government is to protect its people, and these students are at risk. I’m responsible for doing everything I can to keep them safe. Despite the difficult timing, the fire marshal did the right thing by issuing an emergency order to protect these students and ensure their safety. We’re working closely with Marshall University to address this situation, and the students affected are our No. 1 priority.”
Simms said she found three main problems in her assessment of the buildings.
“Structure issues, fire safety issues, as well as electrical issues,” Simms said. “Those are some of the things that rose to the top for me. As a parent, and as a parent to sometimes I feel like 13,000 students, those are things that we really take seriously and that we really have to make sure that our students are living in safe environments.”
Marshall officials emphasized that the decision to close the residences is not a move away from Greek life at the university. After affected students have solutions in place, work will begin on supporting the displaced fraternity chapters.
“Greek life has a long history at Marshall and remains an important part of the student experience,” Simms said. “This is a housing and safety issue, not a decision about the future of Greek life. Once the immediate housing needs of our students are addressed, we are going to work collaboratively with our Greek community and other partners to explore safe, sustainable long-term housing solutions.”
Simms graduated from Marshall in the 1990s and recently returned after 22 years away. While there have been issues with the Greek community at Marshall, she said, those are being addressed with the goal of keeping those chapters in existence going forward.
“My goal is, ten years from now when they come back as a Marshall alum, their chapter is still here,” Simms said. “We cannot say that about quite a few chapters that left while I was gone. Many of that was because of being able to keep enough students interested.”
Simms met with members of the fraternity, along with the group leaders, on Monday to take questions.
“They asked lots of questions about moving, and so we have secured U-Haul pods that they will place their items in if they would like,” Simms said. “And also, boxes. I also have some temporary parking places for them; some of them don’t have parking permits because they walk to campus.”
The city of Huntington is working with the property owner to address the condition of the buildings.
Story by Daniel Woods and Jack Carlson.