I was sitting in Durham’s City Hall on a Monday night in October, next to my friend and club founder Milo Graber, when the city council voted on the tenant protection ordinance we’d been following for months.
The room was mostly quiet, but when the final vote came in, the crowd erupted in cheers for the protection that just passed.
Under the new law, landlords have up to 72 hours to repair conditions that threaten health or safety, such as rotting floors, exposed wiring, or lack of heat or clean water. If they don’t fix these issues, the city can issue a violation, and collecting rent after could lead to misdemeanor charges
Watching this ordinance pass was the first time I watched an issue I helped work on move from conversation to actual policy.
Inspired by a similar ordinance passed in Charlotte, Riverside student Milo Graber founded the Affordable Housing Club to help advocate for tenants’ rights and help push for this reform locally.
Graber originally created this club over a year ago to help push for stronger protections in our community and to help those struggling with unsafe housing.
For Riverside students, this isn’t just a political change. It’s something that could affect their health, safety, and wellbeing at school.
Being in the room during the vote showed me how student advocacy can really help cause positive change. It proved to me that even as students, our advocacy doesn’t have to be symbolic.
The ordinance isn’t a perfect solution. It doesn’t address long term affordability or prevent landlords from neglecting properties in the first place, and enforcement will only matter if the city consistently follows through. But it’s a step toward safer housing in Durham, and it proved to me students can play a role in making change happen.
