Zohran Mamdani’s recent mayoral victory in New York City might feel distant from campus life in Saginaw, but his belief that housing is a human right should resonate everywhere.
Mamdani ran and won on a platform built around affordable housing, tenant protections, and community driven policy. His win indicates a growing national recognition that stable and affordable housing is a necessity, especially among college students.
A survey of students at Michigan State University found that 37% of students faced at least one form of housing insecurity in the last year and 8.5% experienced homelessness. I would not be surprised if SVSU showed similar findings. The conversation is not just for large cities — it needs to happen in the Great Lakes Bay Region too.
For many SVSU students, finding off-campus housing has become increasingly expensive. In the tri-city area, one-bedroom apartments easily run between $700 and $800 a month, while two-bedroom apartments often cross the $1000 mark.
These prices do not include utilities, groceries, and transport, where prices are also increasing steadily. For students juggling multiple part-time jobs, financial aid limitations, and academic responsibilities, these housing costs are outpacing wage increases.
Campus Village, across the road from SVSU, sees a rise in rent every year. For students, even small increases add up. This is appalling as it is a housing complex almost exclusively catered to students. This lack of price regulation and proximity to campus often leaves students vulnerable to the steep rent increases.
For students, housing insecurity means real sacrifices, such as picking up extra shifts at work at the expense of study time and mental health breaks, living further away, or living in crowded, over-shared apartments. When housing becomes a monthly crisis, education becomes harder to sustain.
Many students who live in Saginaw Township or the downtown area report inconsistent heating, subpar building maintenance, and slow and crude response time from landlords with little power to contest. When you pay $700-$800 a month, a home should feel safe and stable, yet many students describe the contrary.
This is where Mamdani’s win comes in: his campaign gained national attention as he advocated for tenants barely able to afford NYC’s average of $3500 per month. He treated affordability as universal, especially for students starting their lives under immense economic pressure.
His win shows that housing is mobilizing voters and support, which should be the case here as well.
In Saginaw, local revitalization efforts are already changing the landscape, as we’re seeing new businesses, renovated buildings, and investment in downtown areas. But revitalization without affordability often leads to displacement. If housing prices continue to climb, it will push students and working families further to the margins of the region.
SVSU students should have a ‘seat at the table’ in shaping what development actually means. Students should push for more transparent rental agreements and landlord accountability by joining the conversations in city hall and demanding restructuring of local zoning ordinances.
University of Michigan implemented a landlord rating and reporting system through its off-campus housing office, allowing students to publicly review properties based on multiple parameters, pressuring landlords to maintain fair standards. SVSU could implement a similar landlord rating system or establish a student housing advisory board, educating students on their housing rights.
The university could work with Kochville Township to classify Campus Village as student-focused housing. This would lead to stronger rent stabilization guidelines and accountability measures for landlords serving students.
These are not abstract policy ideas; they are changes that would directly affect where students call home. Mamdani’s victory does not hand Saginaw a solution, but it offers a model: speak openly and unapologetically about housing, organize around it, and demand policy that centers people.
Housing should not be an obstacle for students. It should provide the stability that allows them to succeed — academically, socially, and personally. If SVSU students raise their voice, this region will have to listen.
Jacie Schonert 
Danielle Carlisi 
Carlie Smith