“UCF doesn’t care!” These words started the rally on Thursday supporting students affected by Hurricane Ian.
The rally hosted by the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UCF not only covered issues regarding civil rights, trans and LGBTQ+ rights but also fought for those impacted by Hurricane Ian. Residents of Arden Villas and The Place at Alafaya, which were recently flooded, came forward to call out UCF and push the institution to help students.
speech at the ‘UCF doesn’t care’ rally at Memory on Thursday.
“They refuse to acknowledge that they have not provided support for the hundreds of students that were just left homeless here and possibly in their hometowns by Hurricane Ian,” Jules Lemos-Maldonado, the secretary of YDSA at UCF, said.
One of the affected students is emerging media sophomore Nadezhda Olkhova, who lives an hour away from the main campus. She said her town was flooded, people couldn’t leave their homes, and some didn’t have food or water.
“My car was totaled. Water got inside of the engine, so now it’s completely undrivable,” Olkhova said.
UCF resumed classes on Tuesday, only four days after the hurricane hit Orlando. Olkhova said the road she takes to get to UCF was flooded and she couldn’t get on campus earlier than Thursday. She missed two days and now has to meet with professors and spend extra time on her assignments.
“I remember thinking that’s way too soon,” Olkhova said. “When my car first got broken, I was completely unsure whether I would even be able to make it to school or whether I would have to drop out.”
On Oct. 3, UCF sent an email offering students services like Academic Coaching Hotline, Counseling and Psychological Services, Knights Pantry. A special speaker at the rally, Maxwell Frost, a Democratic nominee in Florida’s 10th Congressional District, came to UCF to support students holding the university accountable.
“So many students have been displaced, have lost everything they own and have not received the support that they deserve,” Frost said. “I stand in solidarity with the students because they want to be helped when they need recourses.”
Psychology sophomore Callynn Johnson, a co-chair of YDSA at UCF, said after the appalling UCF response, the organization felt it was necessary to address the response to the hurricane at the rally.
“I had homework to do while I didn’t have power, I was expected to come back to campus less than a week after the hurricane,” Johnson said. “The campus did not close until the same day that
the hurricane hit Florida, which means that students were not able to go home and take care of their families or prepare their own houses.”
UCF claims that students who indicated they are displaced due to the storm can now apply for a short-term housing program in partnership with local hotels to provide a temporary housing option. However, Johnson said students haven’t received any callbacks from UCF.
“We’ve seen very little from UCF and I don’t I have yet to see anyone who’s received any help,” Johnson said. “So, are they actually reaching people? Are they actually doing anything?”
For two hours, students marched from Memory Mall to the Student Union hoping UCF will listen and make the change.
“There’s so much work that needs to be done,” Frost said. “At the end of the day, it’s about true solidarity, and what that means, it’s action.”
