Shaw University has a land opportunity it hasn’t fully acted on.
There have been efforts and talk around development, but progress is slow while buildings age and financial pressure grows.
At some point, the strategy has to shift from discussion to action. It’s sad to see issues for students when the University could take action and provide resources to improve.
Six days later:
Loved the bit about the fire alarms not working…really hoping Shaw figures things out, and maybe starts on this redevelopment plan of theirs because this just sounds messy
Terrible for the students and to know they are paying $30k per year makes it even worse.
The rezoning for this area has been approved (https://www.shawu.edu/rezoning-approved-for-the-shawu-district/). They need to move forward with the city and capitalize on the assets they have (land). At this point the University is crumbling and the students are getting left out to dry.
I think it’s more accurate to say the students are getting left in to freeze.
Reading comments online that:
“Now the student have to go home and be virtual until further notice. But they can’t get anything out of their rooms.”
“The students are being displaced and told they have to be off campus by today until further notice.”
Safety and care are two obvious and major factors for student families. This is how you shoot yourself in the foot as a college. I sure hope they are helping the students with other accommodations until they can get back into their dorm rooms. My institution is spending over a million a year over the last 3 years to do a major fire alarm update for every building. Other deferred maintenance is on the back burner while we get this done, but it clearly needed to take priority. With SAU in such trouble, one would think that Shaw would be really sensitive to these sorts of issues …
i dont know how the state adds acreage and structure to universites….ncsu has tall concrete dwellings…possible asbestos issues in some? ive read recently that nccu had some building issues as well. razing and redevelopment may be the answer or some state level aquisition of the properties for satellite campuses of nccu or ncsu etc???
Will be shocked if anything ever gets developed on Shaw. Problem is Shaw wants to control everything & tell a developer “who” can live in the buildings but Shaw has NO money. SA has tried for years to get someone else to pay for that only nursing school rehab…..nobody is going to give them money to do it…period.
My money: no legit developer in their right mind will partner with either of these schools
My guess is that due to Shaw’s lack of funding and continued decline it will likely end up selling the land to a developer that will effectively have 100% rights to the land (no partnership). This is the ONLY way that Shaw digs out of the financial hole and continued resource strain.
I feel like there is a sense of complacency among HBCUs because they know they will still get tax money from the federal government and don’t care about financial mismanagement. This is due to their historical importance and legacy, such as Shaw being the first HBCU in the South after emancipation. No one, especially politicians, want to be seen as the reason they shut down.
Why do these colleges concern you so much?
for the same reason people care so much that there is a subs with 1000+ comments on this blog about a couple restaurants and apartments buildings in parts of downtown like Seaboard or Weld or Ironworks - it all matters to someone.
Maybe because these are legacy colleges. Like Atlanta Morehouse or.Clark Atlanta.
If it makes you feel better - I don’t give a shit about either one…
This area of Shaw appears to be slowly getting cleared out. Any idea of whether this will be sold or renovated?
Phil is so based, even blacks don’t wanna go to Shaw or St. Aug.
That’s not what I meant but thanks! That’s the nicest thing someone has said to me im a long time.
“SAU is operational and accredited as of the 2026 spring semester, but said on Tuesday that it would not continue litigation related to its accreditation status, which is expire May 15.”
In a two week span they file Chapter 11 and become unaccredited on May 15th. The vessel is taking on water.
