SUR is a student and non-student tenant organizing group that emerged out of the UCSC No Place Like Home research project. We borrow the LA Tenant Union's definition of "tenant." Tenants are folks w/o control of their own access to housing. Tenants are those who are precariously housed or unhoused. ie students, renters, houseless folks, incarcerated folks...
We strive to address a myriad of cond
itions/issues that arise from the Santa Cruz affordable housing crisis. These include (but are certainly not limited to) 1) out-of-control rents, 2) lack of legal protections and stability for tenants, and 3) unchecked, unaffordable, unsustainable development. Such conditions are notoriously upheld by "public" institutions such as UCSC and the city council... the same institutions that claim "progressive" and "public" identities. We hold these institutions accountable and demand that they respond accordingly. We must challenge the greed of developers, landlords, and the elite. We must build a collective movement for housing justice. SUR organizes with and for non-student tenants AND student-tenants. We aim to build and sustain tenant power. We aim to build and sustain STUDENT power. Housing Justice NOW.
