The Duty of Universities and the Right to the City: Balancing Campus Expansion with Community Impacts
This nonfiction case examines the ethical challenges that arise when universities expand their campus footprints, including the construction of new student housing to accommodate increasing enrollment numbers. University expansion efforts often result in harm to and tensions with surrounding communities. What are the tradeoffs to consider so that universities can balance their duty to their students and to their communities?
Case Description
In March 2022, the Supreme Court of California ordered the University of California, Berkeley to freeze its student enrollment numbers as a result of a lawsuit brought forth by a group of local residents. The group argued that the availability of on-campus housing had not kept up with the number of students the university was admitting. As a result, students moved into surrounding areas, increasing housing prices and displacing residents. In a city like Berkeley, the lack of adequate, affordable housing, an impossible housing market, and exclusionary housing policies hurt community members and students alike.
This case examines the ethical challenges that arise when universities, particularly four-year residential universities in the United States that primarily enroll full-time students, expand their campus footprints. Issues surrounding campus expansion and community relations are not unique to UC Berkeley; they are prevalent at universities across the country. Campus expansion efforts have a long history of displacing and gentrifying surrounding communities, especially Black communities, from Black Bottom in the 1950s to Manhattanville and the greater Boston area in the present. What principles and values should guide universities, policymakers, and community members in making decisions about increasing access to universities amid insufficient affordable housing? How can we ensure universities are living up to their promise and potential as a public good?
Resources for Educators and Facilitators
Download “The Duty of Universities” case study.
Download “The Duty of Universities” facilitator’s guide.
Download “The Duty of Universities” normative case discussion presentation.
Download “Leveraging Norms for Challenging Conversations” guide.