Over the summer, several updates/changes occurred around campus. Below, we recapped them so everyone is up to speed going into this school year.
Changes to University Housing:
Over the summer, several changes have been made to accommodate the increase in first-year students living on the Statesboro campus. There are changes to placements, rates and more.
In early 2024, construction began on a new, multi-million-dollar student apartment complex located just outside the Statesboro campus. Charme is offering over 200 units with layouts to accommodate up to four people. After over a year of construction, Charme is ready to open its doors. In April of this year, the Statesboro Herald reported that “the regents of the University System of Georgia unanimously authorized Georgia Southern’s almost $3 million one-year sub-rental of 81 apartments containing 240 student beds in the privately owned new Charme on Georgia Avenue complex.” This means that freshmen are now getting the chance to live in brand-new apartments, as opposed to the on-campus dorms.
Now, on the University Housing website, you are able to view how much students will be charged per semester for living at Charme. According to that site, students will be charged $6,000/semester for a 4 bedroom/4-bath apartment, $7,100/semester for a 2-bedroom/2-bath apartment, $10,500/semester for a 1-bedroom/1-bath and $9,000 for a Studio. The website also states, “Charme rent amounts are based upon the master lease. Housing fees will be posted to your student account as fall and spring semester charges. The contract covers from August 2025 move-in to July 15, 2026.”
Along with that, University Housing also announced that all units in Watson Hall will be updated from double occupancy to triple occupancy. According to the Housing website, all units will have new floors, paint and updated movable furniture. Because of these changes, the room rate for Watson Hall will decrease to $2,100 per semester.
All updated information, including rates, layouts and more, can be found on the University Housing website.
Consolidation:
In April of this year, it was reported that Georgia Southern University will be consolidating with East Georgia State College. Our initial report, published on April 8, stated that this consolidation will create “a more comprehensive institution of 29,000+ students, making it the fifth largest public university in Georgia.”
There were lots of looming questions about what this could mean for Georgia Southern. We spoke with SGA president Shaheim Johnson at the end of April to discuss what this means for them. He explained, “We want to keep a consistent and steady flow of operations for them, and we want to ensure that there’s no interruptions at all when it comes to both student governments coming together to become one, with a very similar process to what we did with Armstrong State.” This means that both SGA cabinets will be combining to create a united front across all campuses.
The Georgia Southern Communications and Marketing department released more updates at the end of June, detailing some more changes to staff members and what their roles are. Most importantly, on July 1, Dr. Kyle Marrero began his service as the Interim President of East Georgia State College. The department stated, “Operational units at East Georgia State College will continue to align with Georgia Southern University’s cabinet-level leadership through the work of the consolidation action teams. These teams are focused on establishing integrated administrative and support structures to serve students effectively.”
While things are starting to change now, the process as a whole will take a while. It’s expected that we won’t notice the effects until August of 2026.
We will continue to provide updates on what this means for students and departments across campus. Stay up-to-date on our website for more information.
Updated Freedom of Expression Policy
During last year’s ‘Boro Browse event, an incident occurred where someone was led to the designated public forum area after being denied prior approval. We initially reported on this in February of this year, where we confirmed that the Freedom of Expression policy was violated.
Now, going into the new school year, Georgia Southern has updated this policy, making it clear who is allowed in what spots across campus.
The new policy starts the same, with Item 1 stating, “Georgia Southern University (University) is committed to the freedoms of speech, expression, and assembly. Individuals have the right to assemble, to speak, and to attempt to attract the attention of others, and corresponding rights to hear the speech of others when they choose to listen, and to ignore the speech of others when they choose not to listen.”
The first notable change states, “Students, faculty, staff, Registered Student Organizations, and their invited guests may assemble and/or demonstrate anywhere on University grounds between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday as long as the assembly and/or demonstration adheres to the provisions of Item 1.” Before, the policy did not include the invited guests of Registered Student Organizations.
The next big change is the Designated Public Forum area on the Statesboro campus. Before, it stated that it was located between the Russell Union and the Williams Center. Now, it says it is “the grassy area between Williams Center loading dock pedestrium and a cut-through pedestrium. The grassy area has a black chain fence on the back of the perimeter.”
The last change revolved around the request process. Before, the policy stated, “Designated Public Forum Area Request Forms must be submitted at least forty-eight (48) hours in advance of the activity. This advance notice allows the University the opportunity to avoid simultaneous or competing assemblies/demonstrations and to arrange for adequate staffing.” With the new policy, requests still need to be made at least 48 hours in advance. The change is that the policy now states that “Only one organization or cause representative may occupy the Designated Public Forum Area at one time.”
While you may think this policy or these changes won’t affect you, it’s important to familiarize yourself with it just in case you want to host an event or table near the rotunda. Stay up-to-date on our website to see if any further changes come to light.
