Though President Mark Emmert denied a request to host Tent City 3 (TC3) on campus this July, the Students for Civic Engagement on Homelessness (SCEH) aren’t allowing the discussion to stop there. The students sent a letter to Emmert Monday that outlines a possible compromise for the 2009-2010 school year and asks him to reconsider his decision.

The SCEH proposed a compromise that asks Emmert to support an academic interaction with TC3 if a U-District church were to host it. The students won’t say which church is considering hosting TC3, but they expect to have a final decision by early winter quarter.

During this stay, the SCEH could conduct class tours, community discussions and service-oriented clinics, but they would need the use of UW facilities. Essentially, the UW could explore the educational benefits of working with TC3 without having to fully commit to an actual host position.

Last year, the students in the Community Development for Health class at the UW spent months preparing a proposal for Emmert. They asked his permission to host a homeless encampment of up to 100 people on campus for at least 90 days. Their proposal gained support from ASUW, the Faculty Senate, and the Graduate Professional Student Senate. SECH is continuing that effort.

In his initial response, which he sent about two months after receiving SCEH’s first proposal, Emmert stated: “The university is a diverse community of 60,000 people who converge on our relatively compact campus every day. To introduce a tent city into this mix would compound the complexity of our daily activity in ways that would further complicate the business of the university.”

SCEH member Natalie Stahl said that most of Emmert’s concerns centered around the logistics and feasibility of hosting TC3 on campus.

“He doesn’t have any arguments with our assessment that it would be a meaningful opportunity for the university,” Stahl said.

SCEH President Abigail Pearl said that establishing an educational relationship with TC3 wouldn’t cost the UW any additional resources.

“[The cost] surrounds curriculum building, but that’s the sort of thing that’s already built into the UW’s budget,” she said. “Faculty members are encouraged to incorporate new things into their classrooms and [create] that dynamic academic atmosphere that’s so unique to UW.”

If this test-run is approved and goes well, SCEH hopes Emmert will be more willing to host TC3 on campus next school year.

“I think it would impart an education onto UW students that will be so valuable that the administration couldn’t possibly turn away from it,” Pearl said. “I had a very privileged upbringing. I didn’t grow up in a place where there were homeless people, so being able to interact with people experiencing homelessness has really given me a different perspective about society and what allows society to have homeless people in it.”

Thelma Rodriguez, executive assistant to the president, said in an e-mail that Emmert has been occupied with meetings and conferences this week and has not had a chance to respond to, or comment on, the letter.

Reach reporter Katie McVicker at news@dailyuw.com.